Dope on the Slope is P.O.ed about kids pissing on the streets of Park Slope. And can you blame him?
Yesterday was the third time in less than a month that I witnessed a parent jerk down their toddler’s trousers in the middle of a busy sidewalk so that he could avail himself of the opportunity presented by a nearby tree, and heed the call of nature.
What is totally unfathomable to me is that this delightful tableau unfolded a mere two blocks from Barnes & Noble. I understand the impulse to buy your books from a local, but why not stick it to the man and sneak a leak in their bathroom?
If you have a kid, you know that this happens. It happened to everybody here when they were a kid too, whether they remember it or not. And your parents weren’t (neccesarily) any more narcissistic because of it — they were just too far from an available toilet or too exhausted to perform like superhero in that particular moment. Park Slope has a lot of kids, so if you live there you are likely to see more of it. If thats the biggest thing you have to complain about, count your lucky stars. Move along.
it’s ok as long as they piss ON a church.
Actually, Lou, while narcissism in early childhood – first primary and then genital – is a typical part of the developmental stages of that era, it is something we are supposed to outgrow, and it is our parents who are supposed to be helping us realize the impact of our wanton expressions of our impulses on others around us. Essentially, I agree with you, therefore, that it is the narcissism of the adults in question that is the problem, of which the developmentally arrested president is certainly a manifestation. And BTW, I do believe I’ve been writing and teaching on this subject well before David Brooks ever got on the bandwagon.
I use a travel potty which has a bag in it that you throw away. I have even been criticised for putting my kids on that in the street. There are of couse some parents who don’t really care about such things, but I think in general most parents would do there upmost to find bathrooms or somewhere secluded, but it’s not always possible. Believe me I really don’t want to let my kids wee next to someone’s left dog poo or smashed beer bottle.
Oh for crying out loud, what’s the big deal? As bad as stepping in dog shit? Seeing garbage overflowing and blowing around? Or, for goodness sakes, is it worse than homelessness?
And then spin this an issue of Stepford moms creating narcissists? Stop regurgitating David Brooks, and get a life.
BTW, Peter, as you didn’t realize it: all two-year olds are narcissists. That’s the way they’re supposed to be. The bigger problems are the adult narcissists (e.g., our current White House resident).
PPNG –
1) I have kids and when they were that age I didn’t think allowing them to heed nature’s call on the street was cool with regard to sanitation, aesthetics or the social code. That said, we let our pets do it all the time, (also, have you ever seen those Poland Spring bottles filled with yellow liquid left on the street by thoughtless drivers, probably cabbies ?)so in the event of an emergency, I don’t think it represents the End of Civilization as we know it..
2) I love Community Books and have patronized it for decades but it is nice that Barnes and Noble can provide “value-added services” to the community such as public facilities. But maybe the stroller issue made it too inconvenient for the mom to think about a quick wee-wee run to the loo with the little one..
Peace Out
Oops. I grew up in Brooklyn in the ’50s and ’60s, and when we played out on our street, we peed in the gutter as a matter of course. I remember once I got yelled at by a neighbor, who stuck her head out the window and chastised me, because I was the preacher’s kid and should know better. But there were no Stepford moms on Herkimer Street, and certainly not my mom.
I don’t like it now either. Especially when I see mothers have their kids pee against the church! Honest. The move them behind a buttress and have them pee in the corner against the stones. Pee doesn’t hurt granite, I know, but it seems a little disrespectful.
BUT HOW IS ANY OF THIS UNACCEPTABLE when EVERYBODY lets their dogs piss EVERYWHERE? Why is dog piss acceptable and not kid piss. At least we pissed in the gutter when I was a kid. Why don’t dog-owners curb their dogs?
Children haters!
Just another example of the narcissistic Frankensteins being created here by the Stepford Moms. One day, when those same kids are “pissing” on the environment in other self-indulgent ways, their pseudo liberal parents will wonder where they went wrong.