The Future of Canada?!?

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Okay, so yesterday, I get out of work at 5pm, and need to make it to the bus stop at Queen and Main by 5:06 - that's when the Beeline's supposed to be there. I had plans to meet my friend at Eastgate for 5:30ish... I know it was kind of a tight schedule, but at the same time, it really only is a 1/2 hour bus ride across the city. So I'm truckin' it from Locke to Queen, when I get the sense that I should look behind me to see if a bus is approaching. Sure enough, I'm about halfway up the hill when I see a bus at Locke. I couldn't make out whether it was my bus or not, so I decided to speed it up a notch. I get to the corner before my stop, and decide that a jog was in order - just to make it to the stop. All of a sudden, this beat up teal green junker from the late 80s/early 90s drives past slowly, since they were approaching a red light at Queen. A snot-nosed kid, probably 8 years old and weighing about 170 - 180 lbs hangs half way out the rolled-down rear window and points and laughs at me as they're passing.

Usually, I'd just brush the snide comments of a little kid off, seeing as kids typically don't censor their thoughts very well - I know, I was a kid, and brutal honesty always escaped my mouth without much thought. But, this particular event made me extremely angry for several reasons.

There was of course an adult driving the car, presumably the parent of the child, why the HELL wasn't the kid securely fastened into the car?!? Seatbelts aren't there for decoration you know! It's the law! Seatbelts keep people safe, in the car, should an accident happen.

The rear window was wide open, the kid was half way out of the car! That's really safe! What would have happened if a car had passed by as the kid was hanging out? Or... what if the kid fell out of the car as it was moving?? I see criminal negligence charges, and one less annoying kid in the world.

What ever happened to manners? Do parents teach their kids about manners anymore?? Think about it - is it really polite to yell things out the window at pedestrians as you pass by in your car? Ummmm, let me answer this for you NO!!!!!!!

I'm not the smallest person in the world - I don't like to criticize other people about their weight... that'd make me a hypocrite. However, perhaps what this severely overweight child needed was to be out playing or walking or some other physical activity, rather than screaming out the window of a car. It's odd that I'm being made fun of for walking, by a little fat boy. Then again, if the parents failed to buckle the kid's seatbelt, lets them hang out the window, and doesn't teach them manners, I highly doubt that physical activity and a healthy lifestyle for their child ranks high on their list of things to do.

This experience leads me to the question that is troubling many people... Is this kid the future of Canada? If this is any indication of things to come, I do say, we're all in a heap of trouble!