

Being a ‘mooncalf’ gets you nowhere



Last week I had the pleasure of witnessing an adult patron in one of the local Nash County chain convenience stores simply acting foolish and well beneath his years. His behavior was so horrible I was thankful I was alone and did not have my young children with me.

Let me back up a moment and describe what I witnessed. I walked in the gas station and it was clear there was some sort of disagreement between a customer and the well-mannered clerk. The patron was extremely irate over a purchase he made and was making attempts to return the nonreturnable products, exclaiming that he was deliberately sold the wrong items.

I am sure this could happen, as these items are not available to the public without assistance from someone behind the counter. However, this individual showed no concern for those around him or for the store policy as he bashed the store employees with harsh profanity and belittling comments.

Acting horribly in public certainly did not get him anywhere, as the manager would not bend the store policy as it would result in some sort of punishment for her as well as possible legal charges against her.

She kept her composure the entire time, yet stood her ground enough to assure the customer his behavior would not be tolerated. In the end, the customer realized he should bow out before authorities would have to be called.

Why do people act belligerently in public when they do not get their way? There is so much hate in this world. Why do people take their frustrations out on people just because they are different? Acting and behaving like a mooncalf will not get you anywhere, people. You must know this. This is not something new. To save you time, here is a definition of mooncalf. It is someone who acts like a fool, idiot, imbecile, moron, nincompoop, nitwit, and the list goes on and on.

Sunday after church we decided to take our children to the mall as a treat for great behavior all week. While there, I also realized that hate is much more than the typical topics we see on the news every day. My own 3-year-old was racially profiled by a mother of a different race. As her little boy came up to my son to play in the play area, she immediately said to her son it was time to go and that he would not be playing with my son because my son is white. I was mortified that she said those words to her preschooler.

Thankfully, my son did not hear her say those hateful comments. It was shocking to realize that even in this stereotypical world, there are individuals who are still morally wrong and continue to teach their children to hate other races.

There are so many people proclaiming to stop the hate and stop the negativity that all we really see and get is publicity for political advancements. When a 3-year-old boy cries because his mother tells him he can’t play with his new friend because that friend is white, black, pink, purple or any other color, there is something terribly wrong with parents today. No one should tell their children they can’t play with any child because of skin color.

Parents, if you teach your children to hate other races, then you are raising a child to act like a fool, use profanity and just make people’s lives miserable in a convenience store 25 years later. Is this what we have to look forward to?

Rodney O’Neal is a resident of southern Nash County.