did i really just go see annie get your gun?

yeppers.  i'm kind of a stagehand/set designer kind of dork and me and the wife always talked about checking out a stage show down at the local theater.  to tell you the truth, small town productions especially scare the crap out of me b/c their local pool of talent is generally about as deep as a kiddie pool.  but we went, and i was surprised to make these stunning observations:

annie get your gun is famous.  like, that song there's "no business like show business" totally comes from that show.  as well assssss "anything you can do i can do better........."  Two songs i think the general american public would recognize but not be able to place.   it belongs on a Who Wants to be a Millionaire question..

the show was alright, and i stress _alright_ , but the people who stole the show, a family actually, were the ones we were sitting next to.

i dont wanna bash little chubby kids too much here - afterall, i kindof was one.  But OH MY GOSH i thought it was all just a mean stereotype.  This mother had three EXTREMELY overweight young kids, aged like 3 to 9, that she dragged to this 3 hour long stage show...  Now, right off the bat any reasonable person that hears that is thinking "bad idea bad idea,"  but not this lady.  Not only did she bring them, but she bought them - literally - 2 large sodas each to go with about 6 of the biggest, most fattening homemade cookies you can buy.  EACH. 

the kids were freaking bouncing up and down on the chairs, sitting on top of the backrest, crying "how much longer momma?" , kicking the chairs in front of them, touching/hitting the heads of the people in front of them, fiddling with empty styrofome soda cups and making that HORRIBLE plastic straw-in-a-tight-space noise (for 20 minutes)... and the mom didnt do A THING!!   At one point, she had the littlest one sitting on her lap chewing ice cubes for 15 minutes, loud as hell!!!!  i mean, what's louder and more annoying that a 3 year old chewing ice cubes in a quiet theater???  it was totally unbelieveable and it got me thinking.

Sometimes, and i mean sometimes:  having super obese children is a sign of neglect.  Watching the interactions between kids and mom you could see the virtual lack of parenting being replaced by the placating of every whine, cry, scream and complaint of the child. 

Kid crying in a theater?  Buy him a cookie. Need to buy more time??  Buy him 6 cookies.  Kid crying at home?  Give him a ding-dong.  Kid crying that he's thirsty?  Give him a 64 oz jumbo coke to shut him the f#ck up for 4 1/2 minutes. 

 Now i understand ritalin.  in lieu of parenting, it's placate or opiate