Hateful Speech

So I'm just back from a walk in the woods with my kids that had some unsavory elements, in the form of four middle school-aged kids, three girls and one boy, who were hollering and shouting and just being general low grade obnoxious.

Until they saw us. Then the boy just kept yelling at us, really aggressively, "Sup?!" over and over. We said hello and I stared down one of the girls who was trying to give me the stinkeye. But since my kids didn't say anything and I didn't say much, the boy started shouting, "Can't you talk, bitch?" which, needless to say, was unsettling,

Where does this hatred come from? Sure, they're probably just a bunch of bored tweens looking to stir shit up, but what could they possibly gain from us, such low hanging fruit? We were just generic mother and children minding our own business.

We walked away and unfortunately it was not the way home, so we eventually had to turn back, which we did. We saw a young woman with a dog and asked if we could walk with her, safety in numbers. And when we did, in fact, run into the foursome again, one of the girls admired her dog and the "Sup?!" Boy just kept yelling "Sup?!" but it was easier to ignore.

I do know that my kids now know bitch is a bad word. I feel lucky I didn't swear back at those obnoxious kids. Because I sure as hell felt like it. I felt like, if they were to come at us in any way, I would have gone off the rails to protect my kids. I've never felt vulnerable in that park we walked and I often run in, until today.

Which I think is just sad.

It also saddens me to see such rage and aggression aimed at innocent people. Where does it come from? Who talks to those kids the way they talked (shouted) at us? What do they dream about at night? Who tucks them in or speaks kindly to them?

I also felt a real fear which I disguised to the best of my ability, but I'm sorry, when you're outnumbered, it feels a little scary, especially because I'd be the main person in the fight, if there was one, which of course there wasn't. Thankfully. But it touched that deep river of fear that comes with being a parent. You will protect your children at any cost. Fight or flight indeed. It's primal.

I don't know what I should have or could have said or done to dissolve the aggression those kids were throwing at us full throttle. I'm glad at least I didn't stoop to their level and swear in front of my kids. And swearing at a bunch of middle school kids would lower my chances for mother of the year. But I sure felt like shouting at them. I had the urge to vent my spleen. Nobody talks to me or my kids like that, was my thought. But in the moment, there was nothing to say.

Which is also sad.