Respect

For years, I've battled with some of the local teenagers by telling them that they will earn my respect when they respect me in return. That's pretty sound logic by my reasoning and I think some teenagers just want adults to treat them as they would expect to be treated.

So last night for an early Father's Day treat, my kids and I surprised my husband with a trip to see the new Star Wars movie. What occurred in the theater really ticked me off.

We'd arrived early so that we could get great seats. Ten minutes before the movie, people started pouring in. A man and his wife or girlfriend to the two seats beside my husband and threw their coats into the two seats next to them. Five minutes later, two teenagers were looking for seats -- there were only 4 seats left - two on the floor or the two near us in the top row of the stadium seating. This couple told the boys that those seats were reserved for their "friends". So the teens ended up leaving because the floor seats suck - you have to bend back and look straight up. My understanding is that the teens got tickets for the next showing instead.

So the movie started, and no one ever filled those two seats. We overheard later that the couple didn't want to sit next to teenagers, so they lied. Though I can spout off to them, by that point it was too late for the teenagers to come in and watch the movie from those seats. I find that behavior to be rude and juvenile--appalling comes to mind. When adults treat teens like that, how can the rest of us try to show today's teenagers that we just want them to act like adults??