Whatever...

I am an even keeled person and it takes quite a lot to get me upset. With that said, nothing gets my attention quicker then someone saying "Whatever" with negative verbiage. This word gets me riled because I think it's rude and full of dismissal. I sometimes have to watch my reaction when the word is articulated with attitude.

I found myself in a very awkward situation with this particular word. I spent some time with Julie and her daughter here recently. Her daughter had a friend over and he wanted to play in the garage. Julie told them that they couldn't and she gave them some choices of where they could play. His response....you got it, "Whatever." I used to be in a classroom and the teacher in me wanted to come out. I wanted to discipline the child and it took a lot of self control to let it slide.

It was weird because for the first time in my life, I was in a situation where I couldn't be a disciplinarian. It gave me a whole new outlook of parenting. A funny thing about this situation: maybe an hour before the incident, Julie was expressing how hard it was to have children spend time in her house. I was trying to be supportive, but I really had no idea what she was talking about. I'm not a parent. Once I was able to experience a small portion of it first hand, then I could empathize with her.