I’ve noticed a disturbing trend lately.

My youngest kids are still in school, and they participate in school, church and sports events.

The kind where parents sit watching their respective children with pride,  either be recognized for an achievement or perform as a collective whole with other children.

The kind where parents want to get pictures and video of their children.

I do too.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am just as proud as the next parent and want to record these moments for posterity.  After all, these years go by so fast and especially now as my last child is moving up the ranks and is in second grade.  His moments will be my last proud mother of little kid in a play, etc.

So of course as I sit in the audience of whatever assembly, play, sporting event, I am just like every other parent in that aspect and technology has made it even easier for us to record these special moments than ever before.

Thanks to smart phones and digital recorders and cameras of whatever type, we can pretty much record the whole thing in some form without the bulky equipment for video from before or the big unwieldy cameras.

Well except the iPad and other tablets with built-in cameras.  That is just weird but hey to each their own and if you wanna take pictures on one of those bigger things more power to you.

Just don’t sit in front of me and do it.

It happens Every. Single. Time.

Do it in front of me and I am going to say something to you.

Like the time when Magpie first got on the honor roll for straight A’s.  There was an assembly and my parents and I were sitting there in the 5th row when some guy in the fourth row throws his iPad straight up in the air directly in front of my face.  It also obstructed the view of my parents on the left of me and I am sure the people on the right.

WTF

Me:  can you please put your iPad down.

Him:  (in a I kid you not, whiney voice) : But…I can’t even see my kid up there.

Me:  great sorry about that but I don;t want to see my kid through your iPad.

Him:  Huff and Puff and moved away.

http://instagram.com/p/nzd2e9pVkW/?modal=true

 

The thing I really don;t understand about this is these parents who stand up in front of everyone else, in the middle of the crowd, pissing people off who suddenly can’t see, are doing it for pictures and videos so far away they SUCK anyways.

Especially if it’s just a smart phone, as in the example above. Yes there are lots of smart phone offenders too.  Holding their phones up yet not as annoying and obstructive as the tablet users.  Still annoying.

And still a sign of how little people really think of other people anymore.

Gee let’s sit in the middle or the front and when our kid comes on, stand up, or hold up our camera, who cares about whether anybody behind me can see around me or my technology.

I want a shitty video to keep forever.

The offender looks stupid, obviously are self-centered and I bet will be deleting that as soon as they get home because it sucks.  In the mean time I guarantee they pissed off a bunch of people who wanted to see their kids too.  Live, not through your screen.

Was it worth it?

Go to the front and kneel.  Go to the back. Go to the sides of the room.

But go somewhere else besides in front of 12 rows of other parents trying to see their kids too.

That’s what people used to do.

It’s called pull your head out of your ass and realize it’s not all about you, or even your kid.

Have some manners.