This happened a couple of weeks ago but I had to stop what I was doing to get this down.  It was killing me…  Another random Friday on the train – this time in the morning…

A mother-daughter duo got on and sat across the aisle from me.  The girl was at least 13 but talked whined like she was 9.  As soon as they got on, she ran to a table seat (I know – already cringing, right?) and said, “Ooooo!  Mommy!  Let’s sit at a table!  I want a table seat!”

Visions of Veruca Salt turning into a blueberry went through my head.

Mom: Ok sweetie, whatever you want. 

They sit down.  Pause.

Daughter: Mommy, I’m thirsty.

Mom hands daughter a soda and pulls out a newspaper.  It’s 7:30 in the morning.  I didn’t dare look to see what kind.  It’s either full of sugar or caffeine – either way it’s going to ruin someone’s day.  Then, a little later while goin through San Clemente…

D:  Mom!  Look at those houses!  Mom!  Mom!  (Loudly, while smacking the back of the newspaper)

M:  Uh-huh.  Nice.  We should make friends with those kind of people.

D:  Totally!

Pause, while staring at houses.  Then…

M: Do you want to get your hair trimmed soon, or are you ok?

D:  (thinks about it)  I’m ok right now.

M:  You shoulda washed your hair last night sweetie.

D:  Yeah, I shoulda.  Oh well.

M:  Bet you didn’t practice drums last night either.

D:  Mooooooooommmmmmmmyyyyyyy I was having too much fuuuuuuunnnnnnnnn!

M:  I know sweetie.  (Patting her hand) That’s what summer is for.

Long pause.  I had to do something so I tried to tune them out.  But then, up around Irvine…

D:  I want a Saint Bernard puppy.

M:  Wow, those things get big.

D:  Yeah, the one I wanted was THIS big.

M:  Wow, that’s big already.  Are you sure it’s a puppy?

D: Yes, and it was SOOOOOO cute!

M:  How much was it?

D:  I don’t know, but it must have been expensive because the Chihuahua was one-thousand-three-hundred so it must have been more than that… like twelve hundred!  (a – I didn’t know that they sold dogs by the pound, and b – she’s obviously not paying much attention in math class.)

M:  Oh, wow.  (Um, Mom – how about using this as a teaching opportunity to 1 – tell her that 1200 is not more than 1300  or 2 – tell her how much work a dog of any size is?)

D:  Yeah, but it was sooooooo cute!

M:  Did they have any sheep dogs or anything?

D:  Oh, I don’t know.  I just wanted the Saint Bernard because it was sooooo cute.

I had to pack up my stuff at this point, but I think it would have been fun to follow them around downtown LA that day(they were going to do some serious shopping).  I wonder if Mom ended up giving Daughter a piggy-back ride back to the train station.  Or, better yet, if they got a Saint Bernard “puppy” to take home.  Daughter has obviously never seen any of the six Beethoven movies.  People constantly seem to amaze me.