Mind Your Own

Some people and their stupid opinions. Today was a fun day. My daughter has been wanting to skate for awhile now. She's 22 months. My wife and I bought her Bob Skates for xmas and today we decided to take her to the Canal for her first skate. On the way there, my wife says, "Shit. I forgot her helmet." While this registered with me, I was more concerned with just getting there safely as it was snowing pretty heavily. Besides, I learned to skate with just a Montreal Canadiens touque for cranial protection. No worries. We unloaded our precious cargo and proceeded to lace up on Patterson Creek. My daughter had ceased her wailing and crying by this time and she realized that, finally, Daddy has gotten off his lazy ass and is taking me skating. She was bundled up with enough layers to resemble a mini Michelin Man, and I held her up, standing behind her all the while, my feet aching as I don't skate nearly as much as I'd like. I wasn't worried in the least for her safety, as I never let go. She loved the whole experience; the Q.E. Drive bridge the we skated under to get to the canal proper, all the people, the snow, the ice, the cold. All of these she remarked upon, between reminding us that, finally, she was skating, and I must say she did very well. She fell a few times but I picked her up and used the opportunity to dispense with a little parental advice; "If you fall down, you just get right back up and keep going, sweetie." We got a lot of smiles and "Aww, what a cutie"s. But then, as we skated back into Patterson, some asshole had to say, just loud enough so I could hear of course, "That little one isn't even wearing a helmet. Two minutes for elbowing." I was bent down with my daughter, but half stood and directed my voice, just loud enough so he could hear, " Prick.Fuck You." I was angry. Angry that I said that in front of my daughter. But angry that this pius shit-heel thought he had to express an opinion that is so PC and mundane, as though a head injury was imminent. Did he not see that it was impossible for my daughter to fall as my arms were clutched around her? He did. No, some of us just have to shoot our mouths off with instinctive opinions or sayings which add nothing to the discourse or benefit of others. I couldn't help but notice that his ten-ish son wasn't wearing a lid, and he was moving at speeds much faster. In a crowd of ice skaters, my worry isn't that the plastic, de rigueur Canadian Tire toddler's helmet will be called upon to do it's job. It's that the wayward skate blade of a flat-footed clutz will come up and do some real damage. Let's take time to think before we speak. Recognize, in this particular instance, that gravity was all but negated by my loving arms, that maybe parents just want to enjoy what is clearly a special moment, and that stupid, possibly well meaning, but ill-considered comments just come across as snarky and smart-assed. Are you really worried for my daughter's well-being, Oh scion of public safety? Or did the all important filter between your brain and mouth just malfunction? It seems that to excoriate someone for such trivial shit is petty, and a great illustration of our society's misplaced priorities. After all, wasn't it just a few winters ago that Ottawans were stepping over a corpse on a snow covered sidewalk? What a city and what a world where people can lift their boots over a dead person and continue on their way, and yet I'm belittled. I hope he felt better.