ugly parents

brought my mum to changi airport foodcourt for dinner. had expected a crowd considering it is a weekend. when we arrived, i freaked out. the crowd at the walkway outside the foodcourt was so "thick" one had to squeeze through to walk from one point to another...

i was curious and decided to take a closer look and realised the crowd was not moving cos they were all parents and kids waiting for barney to come on stage. there were like at least 300pax squeezed into a half-olympic pool sized space. and that is where the ugliest of behaviour could be seen. we have parents trying to out-squeeze each other, we had parents who went to eat and when barney appeared, rush and pushed their way to the front, and so on...

frankly, despite not being a parent myself, i couldn't but felt embarrassed by the many parent's behaviours. and i was embarrassed at several levels. firstly, as a parent, what kinda freaking value-system and message are the parents sending their kids? that it is ok to push and shove? that greediness and discourtesy is fine? that one can be rude in the face of something desirable? hmmm... and as a singaporean, what kinda message are we showing our guests from around the world?

hmmm... perhaps i sound a little too uptight, but certainly, i did not like what i see.