Naughty children and bad parents

[Ophbalance]

I've seen African Greys snap pencils more than easily with there beaks. I learned really early on not to mess with that breed of bird.

[notalwaysright]

Guess where I saw the best behaved kids? At a small horse auction. You learn fast, don't mess with a 1,000 lb animal.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I had a largish parrot sit on my arm in a mall many years ago. It didn't bite me, but did take a bite out of my leather watch strap. I think it was trying to steal my watch.

[XCashier]

Guess where I saw the best behaved kids? At a small horse auction. You learn fast, don't mess with a 1,000 lb animal.

Ohhhh, yes! There's a good story here that drives that point home.

[RealUnimportant]

His behaviour after being caught out shows he knows it's unacceptable, as does his unwillingness to get the other worker into trouble by admitting they told him off. He knows it's unfair for them to suffer for his sins - now if only he'd just stop sinning!

[wolfie]

There was a large sign on pink card on his cage stating "Don't touch the parrot". Brats would normally disregard the sign, and stick their hands into the cage. The parrot would wait til the hands were almost touching him, then attack. Cue brats screeching in pain, and running to their parents. Which would end in me pointing to the sign on the cage and inwardly dancing in glee.

True win would be teaching the parrot to, after attacking the "hands-on" kid, say "Hey asshole, can't you read?"

[taxguykarl]

Is it just me or does the 12 yo (who I agree should know better) remind anyone of Seraph's nephew?

Sounds like they would be good company

[mathnerd]

I had a largish parrot sit on my arm in a mall many years ago. It didn't bite me, but did take a bite out of my leather watch strap. I think it was trying to steal my watch.

A good friend of mine has a largish green parrot. I'm not sure of the specific type. Anyway, said parrot hates everybody but my friend and kids who are bigger than toddlers but not adolescents yet, though he will develop a begrudging acceptance of people who are around often enough (for example, he's currently giving me the stink eye, but doesn't actively try to bite me anymore).

Anyway, I'm always amused when my friend takes the bird out of the cage, because the first thing he goes for is my friend's watch. Every stinking time. I'm not sure if I'll ever grow unamused by the bird's antics.

[Jester]

I wonder if his parents are showing favoritism because he's a boy.

It's possible. There are parents that do that. There are also parents that show favoritism to children that are girls. I just don't know what in this narrative would draw you to the conclusion that this is boy-centric favoritism. Sounds to me like the mother and grandmother are just horrible at parenting, period, and that the older daughter just has figured out that they are idiots, and she doesn't want to be associated with such behavior.

I swear, if you put a sign on neon coloured card and made if flash bright colours, they'd STILL say it wasn't noticeable

There's a common theory in the magic community that if you made a certain common magic prop flashing in a neon color, a skilled magician could still make it unnoticeable to people. I've often wondered if it's really the skill of the magician or the stupidity of the people. I used to think it was a combination of the two. But the longer I've worked in customer service, the longer I've thought that magician skill was overrated compared to the other element at play here.

[siskaren]

I just don't know what in this narrative would draw you to the conclusion that this is boy-centric favoritism.

Because the girl got told off by the mother and the grandmother when she attempted to rein in the boy. And I didn't conclude; I just wondered.

[sms001]

Because the girl got told off ....And I didn't conclude; I just wondered.

Not to mention it's a far more common scenario, at least here in the U.S.: "Boys will be boys."

[Jester]

I was thinking they may have been doing that just because she was being reasonable and mature, two things that were foreign to them, rather than because she was a girl.

But then, I grew up with two sisters, and the only reason I ever received anything approaching favoritism was because I was the calm, mellow, quiet one. (Think about THAT scary thought for a moment!) Because I was the one not being a nut case. But generally speaking, my parents showed pretty much no favoritism at all (despite the paranoid delusions of my little sister on the subject), and if any of the three of us were misbehaving, we were told in no uncertain terms to knock it the fuck off.

[mathnerd]

I was the calm, mellow, quiet one.

That is truly terrifying.

[EricKei]

When it comes to dangerous things like knives and birds and the like -- Screw it. I say go ahead and be rude, if that's what it takes to get the kids out. Better they get upset than end up in the hospital.

[notalwaysright]

Bad parent example: Years ago I had a confrontation with a SC that still makes me shake my head. We sell strung beads, right? So... They're strung on thin strings with knots on either end. I walk by and see a mom GIVE some strung wooden beads (the size of marbles) to a BABY to gnaw on. I immediately go over and say something about how that's not safe and a serious choking hazard. And she's all "oh, it's fine..." and I was not real pleasant and told her to give those beads to me right now. Yeah, she did and stormed off. I didn't get in trouble, but I fear for that poor kid.