Where to begin?

I'm so behind on my blogging. Don't know which story to begin with. Spent a fun weekend in Atlanta watching the First Robotics championships. Believe it or not, it was really fun. Nerds know how to have fun?!? JUST KIDDING!!!! I'll fill in more about that trip later, and I promise I will get pics up soon.

First I want to tell you all about something that happened a few weeks ago at the kids school. A few times this year a teenage boy has pulled out in front of me, from a stop sign, to get to his parking place. I really don't care as I'm going slow and I would stop and let him go before me to park if A: I could see him and B: I could remember that he is in a hurry to get to his spot and into class. Usually I'm so busy watching out for pedestrians and other cars that I don't see him there or remember that he is that "kid that parks in that spot."

Two weeks ago, just back from spring break, he did it again. But this time I didn't see him in time to stop and let him go. No, he didn't hit me, but he had to wait for me to get in front of him so he could get to his parking spot. It was a chilly morning, both of us had our windows up, and I had a movie playing for Dan. That didn't stop me from hearing the obscenity he yelled at me. I just blew it off figuring he was having a bad morning. He pulled into his spot behind me, jumped out of his car, and continued his irate yelling, cussing, and belittling of me. I put my car in park, opened the side door, and said, "excuse me. But you have a stop sign there, and I'm sorry, but I can't read your mind." He slammed his trunk shut and yelled "SHUT-UP!!!!". I bit my tongue, but couldn't help but yell at him, "you need to grow up." Again, I got a very loud and rude, "SHUT UP!!" There were quite a few kids walking by. I asked one of them his name. She was chagrined to tell me, but did so.

By the time I got home and had had 20+ minutes to think about the whole situation, I had calmed down considerably. I called his mother and talked with her. I very calmly explained what happened. She was mortified. She apologized and continued to tell me he was in a bad place, things were bad at home (I'm guessing they are going through a divorce), he had been rejected by the 4 colleges he really wanted to go to, they had spent the previous night and that morning yelling at each other, and that she really wanted to find someone for him to talk to to help him figure things out. She literally talked to me for over an hour. Me. A complete stranger. She really needed to unload and couldn't believe that I was so calm about the incident. In the meantime, the kid had gone straight to the dean of students, told him what he had done, and I received a call from the school.

I am going to tell you straight up. I was really angry at first when the whole thing went down. But by the time I got home and had cooled off, I realized a few things. It wasn't worth being angry about, it wouldn't do anyone any good to make a big issue about it, but as a mother I would want to know if my child had behaved that way. That is why I called the mom to talk with her. By the time I got off of the phone with her and the dean, I had a strong impression that if I had reacted any differently, things would've been very bad for this boy. As it was, I really think he is going to get any help he may need with dealing with life which can be overwhelming for any of us.

Here is the letter of apology I received from him:

Mrs. Foster,

I am writing this to explain how truly sorry I am for my actions on Tues. My behavior was not only unacceptable but embarrassing as well. I am disgusted with myself at the way I acted and am willing to make amends to you and your family in any way you see necessary.

I would like you to know that my actions were not in any way out of personal hostility toward you, but a resultant of a buildup of emotions due to personal issues at home, causing me to lose my composure and erupt the way I did. I would like to explain that such behavior is very uncharacteristic of me and once again, derives from mounting stress I have experienced over the last few weeks.

Once again, I am truly sorry for my appalling behavior and deeply regret the fact that you had to meet me under such unfortunate circumstances.

Now, if only the mother of the boy that punched Jacob in the nose at baseball, someone from his own team no less, had responded and reacted as nicely. No. This woman actually made excuses for her son and never once apologized. Nice.