Monday, September 30, 2013

Keep Your Religion IN YOUR PANTS! (An Open Letter to a Friend Who Decided to Witness to Me)


Keep Your Religion In Your Pants!


 
 
Recently I had the misfortune to have now-former friend decide to use an invitation over to my house to push her religious beliefs on me. There are so many aspects about this that leave me uneasy, feeling angry, and very offended. I’ve needed to get this off of my chest, so this is an open letter to that former friend. If you are religious, it is possible that you may find this offensive – feel free to move along to another page, but I hope you will stay and learn a lesson vicariously.

For the sake of anonymity let’s refer to my friend as “Preachy.”
 
Dear Preachy,

                You may have noticed that I’ve recently ceased all communications with you. I’m sure you are perplexed, you just cannot fathom why I won’t return your calls, emails, texts, facebook pings, and snail mail letters (which I promptly toss in the recycling, btw). After all, you were “only” trying to spread the word of (your) god, and “win a soul” to (your) god.  

                For a long while I sat on the fence about where I stood with believing in the afterlife. Truthfully, I was mostly leaning towards atheist, but the stupid christian guilt I’d been raised with would creep up (seriously, that shit is a bitch!), and I would waiver and wonder. I spent many hours as a teen reading the bible and studying the religion. Occasionally I would think of a question and thought I would ask you about your thoughts. In case you didn’t know, this is where things between you and me rapidly went downhill.

A year ago I asked you a few questions on your bible and beliefs just to hear your perspective. I grew up in an evangelical home, I know these beliefs like that back of my hand. Still this conversation left me quite offended. However, because I consider myself a good and tolerant friend, I let you believe your beliefs. I just made a mental note never to broach the topic with you. Why? Because I respect you and your right to hold your own beliefs without needing to convert you.

Now that I’m no longer a friend of yours, I’m calling bullshit on that first conversation. I also believe that your “righteous beliefs” are destroying the fabric of our society, not because you believe them so much as you try to push them onto everyone. Going back to this initial conversation, you may wonder what I found so offensive.

 

1.       Gay People Are Like Butt-Licking Animals

Preachy, do you remember our lunch where I asked you some religious questions? Did you happen to notice how quiet I got and changed the topic afterwards? Let me help fill you in on why. Here’s a recap:

You: “So what is your stance with religion?”

Me: “Well, that’s a loaded question. There’s a lot of things that I completely disagree with in the Bible. For example, being gay is a natural thing. Gayness, gay animals exist within nature.”

You: “Yes, but animals are gross. They lick their butts.”

Me: (stunned silence, debating whether to point out that there are probably plenty of humans who enjoy licking butts…)

You: “Gay people are just lustful. That’s all that gayness is, people choosing to give in to sinful lust.”

Me: “Hmm. I don’t agree. I think few people would choose to be ostracized by society. Besides, pretty sure gay people are no more lustful than heterosexual people.”
 
 

REFLECTION:

Do you not see how arrogant you are being? Can you just step back here and look at things without the lens of your religion? I know the answer is no, which is really frustrating for the rest of us. I wish you could just imagine you are wrong (like you *love* to ask us non-religious people, “but what if you’re wrong there is no god? You could go to hell!”) and look at your actions as a human. What if there is no (your) god and you’re just walking around being a discriminatory asshole? Because that is the reality of things. But yes, I know you are incapable of seeing this or empathizing.

Here is my theory. You’re claiming your love is legitimate, but theirs is just lustful. Why? Because it makes you feel special. You have something authentic, something greater. Something better. Lust is defined as “ardent enthusiasm,” something that surely would burn out after a few years at most, wouldn’t you think? So how do you explain many lovely gay couples who spend their lives together? They’re just living off of keeping the lust going, huh? Damn, wish I knew their secret. 

 

2.       The Mythical Conservative Homosexual Who Doesn’t Want Equal Rights

You: “Well, there are actually Christian gay people who recognize the sin and choose to abstain and instead dedicate themselves to living quietly and seeking God. They don’t force their beliefs down our throats with all that sinful pride and such.”

Me: “I find that very sad, Preachy. Everyone deserves to be happy and be able to live their lives as their truthful selves. You know, I believe gay people should be able to marry because of separation of church and state.”

REFLECTION:

Um. Have you ever met anyone like that? There seems to exist this myth out there among conservatives that there are gays on your side who are humble, repenting, and would never vote for their own rights. I don’t really buy that, but even if there are people like that it doesn’t make it right!

Again, can you step aside from your beliefs and see how denying homosexuals dignity and enacting judgments really just degrades our society? Their love does nothing to hurt yours.

Also, you do know that Jesus never spoke of gay people in (your) bible, right?

 

3. If Gays Marry, Next Comes Pedophiles Marrying Children and Perverts Marrying Animals

You: “Well, that’s just society and popular belief. Eventually it will be pedophiles wanting to marry little boys, and perverts wanting to marry animals.”

Me: (stunned silence again, I was so offended and stunned that I could barely form a coherent sentence) “Pedopilia is wrong and different, Preachy.”

You: “Only because people haven’t started to be more liberal like they are with gays.”

REFLECTION:

YOU ARE COMPARING TWO CONSENTING ADULTS TO PEOPLE VIOLATING CHILDREN AND ANIMALS? Can you not see how wrong that thought process is? Because honestly, two consenting adults choosing to have sex is not the same thing as someone violating a child or animal. A child and animal cannot give their consent, fully comprehend their actions. However, a grown person having sex with another grown person is NOT wrong if both parties are willing.

Can you understand how awful this thought process is? How damaging and hurtful it is to society? You’ve literally condemned a portion of the population who simply want to love, and placed them on par with criminals. Shame on you.


 

4. Picking and Choosing What to Follow in Your Bible

You: “What else? What other things do you have issues with?”

Me: “Well, let’s see… slavery, the treatment to women in the book  - specifically that passage about the fellow “protecting” his guests by throwing his daughters out to be raped (*) by a gang of mauraders, and silly things like not eating figs, shellfish, of wearing cotton blends.

You: “Oh, well that’s old testament. Jesus came back and showed us the proper way to live. God corrected people through Jesus, so the new testament is what to follow. The other stuff is just history.”

Me: “Jesus advocated slavery (**), Preachy. That’s just never okay, even for the time period. Slavery has always been wrong. Period. If the bible is wrong about slavery, I think it can be wrong about gay people too.” (***)

At this point I’d finished lunch and decided to change the topic. Your beliefs were astoundingly offensive, but as I said before - they were yours to believe and I respect your right to believe them. Even though I thought they were wrong and pretty awful, I valued you as a friend more than that.

 

5.       Keep your religion in your pants

So imagine my surprise when you came over and announced (NOT ASKED) that you were going to witness to me. I’d gone so long trying to avoid talking to you about religion, and that was with a specific purpose of keeping us friends and not having to hear your hateful rants. I'm guessing going a year with me avoiding speaking of religion wasn't okay with you, you expected me to be eager to convert. When you came over an announced your intentions, I was in shock that you would violate an invitation into my home for your own devices. It honestly it really threw me threw a loop. And, as my husband points out, I uncharacteristically let you spend three hours preaching. When you left, I felt hurt, offended, and saddened. You couldn’t just let it be? Let us be friends? Bummer.

I should point out, I don’t care if you hold your beliefs, if you post them to facebook, talk about them – that is fine. However, for future reference it is NOT okay to witness to someone without asking if it is okay to do so and wanted. I know your book tells you to win people to (your) god, spread the word, do everything in (your) god’s name. But honestly? The world you live in today is not that of the bible, and it isn’t okay to do that.

Every religion thinks the other religion is false and wrong, (and yes, I know but you had Jesus to prove your religion right, yadda yadda) and everyone is told to convert others. The point I’m trying to make is that everyone has beliefs and they think theirs are right just as much as you "know" yours to be.

This blog/letter/rant is to tell you that what you did was a violation of our friendship, and irreparable. Please, for the love of humanity – Keep your religion in your pants!

 
6.       You’re a hypocrite

I’d like to point out that your views are super hypocritical. You wear cotton blends, judge gay people, and numerous other things. All those things you say are “old testament” and meant to give history more than anything. Well guess what? The verse you referred to about gay people is OLD TESTAMENT. So how come you hold on to that and toss out everything else? If you hold that true, you should also hold everything else in the old testament as true too. You yourself should have been stoned to death for having a child out of wedlock. But I’m guessing you throw that out because it doesn’t suit you?

                I don’t want to get into religious attacking, mostly because I’d never change your mind. I just want to make a plea with you to see things outside of your religion and look at yourself as a human being. Please?

 

7.       My Mom’s Golden with God

My mother is batshit crazy. Not only is she crazy, she is a cruel, immature, and really mean person. I was very candid with you about my mother and the struggles of growing up in an abusive household. For you to then tell me that I’m just like her holding the same animosity towards her that she had for her mother, well that was just nasty of you.

With regards to my mother, I’m not angry. I’ve come to realize that is just the cards I was dealt. I hate what she put me through, and I hate that she is still a ghost that finds ways to get into my personal life (despite me working to move on). But I mostly just feel sorry for her. By the way, I’ve spent hundreds of hours in therapy sessions working out my issues with my mother, and if my psychiatrist/counselor think I’ve successfully accepted the issue, I think I’m good. So it was mostly just shitty of you to say something like that after I confided in you.

The kicker, however, was for you to say that my mother is for sure going to heaven. Brilliant. There is no heaven or hell, but I’ll happily take hell to living my life like her.

 

8.       Demons

I’m afraid of the dark. Yep, 29 years old and still terrified of the dark. And do you know why? Many hours of therapy have been devoted to this and have helped identify it as PTSD associated with of growing up in a house where my mother told me as a young child that we had demons living in the house. That they talked to her. That they could possess me. That they could come back “ten fold” and are tricky to get rid of. I slept on my dad’s bedroom floor until I was 13 years old, terrified of these magical evil things.

So when you come over to preach to me that these things exist, that they are real and I need to be worried, you didn’t succeed in making me want to follow (your) god to protect me, you pretty much just scared the shit out of me and dug up all those irrational fears I worked so hard to overcome.

I spent every night for weeks tending to a newborn baby, having to struggle with the dark. Thanks. Seriously. That was awesome!

 

9.       Preying on Vulnerability

I recently had a baby, and I think you chose this time in particular because you knew how vulnerable I was. Nothing prepares you for post-baby hormones; the ups and downs, stresses, lack of sleep, they can really mess with you. I was vulnerable and you could prey on my emotions more. I’m sure you don’t tell yourself that, but I’m certain that is the truth of it. Pretty crummy of you.

 

10.   I Was Heartfelt!

What also bothered me was your implication that I wasn’t truly looking for a god at any point in my life. “Anyone who asks with a true heart will be answered.” You are implying that I must not have been genuine in asking, which is pretty sad. I can’t express how much I really was open to it and genuine in asking, and you know what happened? Nothing. Big fat nothing.

But I get it: you tell yourself I must not have been genuine because you can’t believe there’d be no answer.

There was no answer, it wasn’t that I wasn’t open to it, or misinterpreted it, or was “demanding” of a god, it was just the reality of things. We live in a literal world with no proof of an after life.

Funny, atheism is really the most vulnerable thing to being proven wrong…

 

11.   Where I Stand

Your forceful and inconsiderate preaching in my home was just the thing I needed to realize where I stood with religion, and see if for what it truly is. In way I suppose I owe you a thank you. I’ve found freedom from guilt, hypocrisy, cruelty, and a myriad of other things.

 

In Conclusion:

What I’d like to emphasize is I am a good person. Lack of religion doesn’t mean I’m amoral. I believe that the way I treat people is solely based on me as a person doing the right thing. Not because I have to for fear of punishment or for some reward in the afterlife. I am accountable each day for how I relate to people. Me alone. Not because of some scripture that says I must, say, convert my friends.

For the record, I define myself as an atheist. However a lack of belief is not a belief, so in case you’re wondering I now classify myself as a secular humanist, feminist, and agnostic.

I will never try to convert someone. If a friend wants to talk about religion for the sake of it, or for a debate, I’ll happily engage. However I will never take advantage of a friendship for my own agenda. I hope in your old age you might someday come to find that you should do the same.

Sincerely,

Your Former Friend

 

Notes:

(*) anyone unfamiliar with the daughter rape verse: "And Lot went out at the door unto them, and said do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known men, let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes, only unto these men do nothing..." Genesis 19:7-8

 
(**) Jesus on slavery:
    "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear.  Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ."  (Ephesians 6:5 NLT)
 
    "Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed.  If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful.  You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts.  Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them."  (1 Timothy 6:1-2 NLT)
 
    "The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it.  But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly.  Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given."  (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)
 
 
(***) I was also using Dan Savage’s views about slavery and the bible while talking to Preachy, in case anyone recognized that quote/thought. From his debate with a religious person: http://www.towleroad.com/2012/08/dan-savage-debates-noms-brian-brown-at-dinner-the-video.html

 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Doctor Who, Oh the Feels!

Every time I watch the Doctor and Rose say goodbye, I blubber like a baby.
cry.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012


Dear Friend Wondering Why I Was What "Loud Democrat" This Election Season:

I admit it, I am not one to quietly state my opinion when it comes to politics and this 2012 election was probably the worst.

I saw a few posts on social networks for people saying that I should respect their conservative opinion. While I generally agree people are entitled to their own beliefs, here’s why I couldn’t respect it: because by voting conservative you weren’t respecting me as a woman, as a person with the right to make choices for my body, to marry who I want, or  as a person who should be allowed the freedom to make medical choices regarding birth control.

You might see that as opinion, but you see – YOUR opinion directly demeans me as a human and limits MY freedom.

My opinions allow you to have freedom over your conservative life, you can keep a pregnancy, practice your religion, chose not to marry a person of the same sex. Your values don’t really offer the same.

So there’s my reason, that’s why I’m so vocal. I’m not naïve in thinking that my outspokenness would sway you or your vote, but you should have to hear from those voices you intended to silence.

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Republican Mind



I'm continually amazed by the spin on politics, it happens on both sides - sure. What drives me crazy though, is the republicans refuse to really give their stance on things. Why? Probably because coming out and saying "homosexual sex is gross to me" makes them sound like bigots. I guess the spin is there because being honest about how they feel makes them feel like jerks.



FAMILY
 
 
Mother, father, and child....the perfect balance, right? All is in harmony, the kids get to learn from men and from women, let the angels sing. The FACT is that divorced parenting, single parenting, gay parenting and making your own family make up the state of the world. It is not sad, children are not lacking necessarily. Children can be happy with two of the same sex and can fulfill any supposed "needs" of the "missing" sex from people in their life. Family is an all encompassing term, I've chosen my family and am very content in that. I am closer to my friends then a lot of people I share a bloodline with. The reality is families come in all shapes, sizes, and people.

Let's Be Honest: You want the nuclear family because that's what you think the bible endorses.


GAY MARRIAGE




Gay marriage is such a ridiculous issue, it's 2012, we shouldn't be discriminating against people. We were at an identical place socially some 40 years ago with interracial marriage. People weren't comfortable with black people having the same rights as  them (hmmm....sounds familiar), and they sure didn't want to allow interracial marriage. Here were are again at the same human-rights challenge: letting grown adults decide what is best for themselves.

Let's Be Honest:

You Say: "Marriage is between a man and a woman. It has been since the dawn of time."
What You Mean: "Gay sex is gross to me, so I don't like gay people. My bible says they shouldn't be together."

Really? You know the bible talks about slavery as being a holy/sanctified thing? If it could be wrong about that (AND IT IS), it can be wrong about homosexuality too. Marriage was originally brought about as a goods trade/financial investment: I trade my sheep to you, I gain a wife.

You Say: "Gays are forcing their beliefs down our throat by asking to have marriage rights."
What You Mean: "Being gay is a sin and I don't like it."

Really? Gay people aren't asking for your god to marry them, or for the bible to be re-written. They want LEGAL rights through the government. SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, might I remind you.

You Say: "Gay marriage is just a cultural thing, soon it will be people wanting to marry animals or pedophiles marrying children."
What You Mean: Erm... I think you covered it there.

Really? You are comparing people marrying animals and children, both of whom cannot speak for themselves or make their own competent decisions, to TWO GROWN ADULTS capable of full CONSENT, and who want a long-term relationship? Get real.

(*author's note: this is from a few actual conversations I've had on the topic with conservative people*)

You Say: "What about polygamy? That's surely next...."
What You Mean: "I'm just trying to find anything I can that could possibly happen to try to dissuade you."

Really? Gay people aren't asking for polygamy, in fact all of my gay friends are actually against it. Might I remind you, polygamy is completely a heterosexual concept, and something endorsed in your bible. P.S. Don't want to be in a gay marriage or polygamist relationship? Fine. Don't be.

Besides, not allowing gay people to marry changes nothing. You won't force gay people into being straight, or not having a relationship, the gay population will still be here in the same numbers, waiting for the day you treat them with dignity and respect. So really all you are doing is discriminating against people.


GUNS


This whole issue is silly to me, because as a democrat I don't want to take away guns or gun rights. That's right: I don't think banning guns from civilian use is a good idea.

Let's Be Honest: You like to think we want to eliminate private citizen gun ownership, huh? It plays into your "protecting your home, I'm a badass" fantasy.

Reality: The constitution guarantees the right to bare arms and a  "well-training militia." To me, I think this should mean you should have to get certified to own a gun (or show equiviliant knowledge) - hence "well-trained." You have to in order to drive a car, or boat, so it makes sense to do so for a gun. Is this "punishing the responsible"? I don't think so, it is common-sense. Even if "the bad guy will get the gun regardless," adding this requirement could do some good for all of those silly gun accidents that happen.

Honestly though? That's it, some certification is the most I'd suggest. We can't seem to figure out a good way to stop gun violence, and I don't think there is a solution to gun violence. People use guns to do bad shit. End of story. But if we could take the dumbass Dad who leaves a loaded, unlocked pistol in his car with his 3 year old and make him get civilian certification which would hopefully remind him NOT to do this, maybe we'd have less accidents. So sit down, oil your gun, and quit trying to make democrats out to be your gun-thieving assassins in your tough-guy fantasy.


WELFARE



You Say: "If you can afford tattoos, beer, and cigarettes, you shouldn't be on welfare."

What You Really Mean: "I'm just telling myself that a ton of people game the system, it makes it easier to be angry at poor people who ask for help."

Really? Statistics for fraud vary a lot, but recent statistics suggest it is LESS THAN 2% of recipients (decent quick article on it here). D
id you also know welfare was a Republican-introduced system? President Roosevelt signed the original welfare bill in 1935.

As a child of a parent who relied on welfare for a short time, I can tell you that it isn't some amazingly wonderful way to get a free hand-out. You have to jump through so many hoops, spend hours a month is a shitty government office with screaming kids, sick and needy people, and fill out a billion forms. It isn't the luxury cake walk that you assure yourself it to be. A good parent swallows their pride and can ask for help, after all the bible thumping the majority of republicans seem to do, you'd think they'd have basic compassion for single mothers with a child (which is the biggest portion of recipients according to the stats
) they are also using welfare for less than two years at a time.



UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE



 EVERY person deserve healthcare without having to worry about how to afford it, or selling their house and maxing out the 401k in order to afford chemo treatment to live. Healthcare is a Basic. Human. Right. It doesn't make sense to have a for-profit system.


"Obamacare" is probably not the BEST idea, but we have to start somewhere and our current system is not working.

You Say: "The government shouldn't tell me I have to buy healthcare, living without healthcare is my personal decision."

Reality: Is it really? Not really, because guess WHO pays for your unexpected and uninsured accidents/doctor appointments? Me, the tax payer. My mother had TWO children, appendix removal, a toxic-food-poisoning week-long hospital stay, AND almost bled to death, ALL WHILE UNINSURED. Do you think she worked to pay off the debt? Nope. And those "assistance" programs didn't do much. So, all in all and last I knew she owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that we ended up paying for anyhow, because hospitals can't turn away people.

That shouldn't be allowed, and she shouldn't have to pay thousands of dollars to stay alive. That's a broken system. By embracing the philosophy of "I don't need to have insurance" we are costing ourselves more money in the long run. You have to pay for car insurance, you shouldn't be able to gamble on your health , nor should you have to pay loads to stay alive.

You Say: "Should I have to pay for an abortion or birth control if I don't agree with it?"

Reality: Yes, you should. You can't force your religious beliefs on people. Imagine you are dying on a hospital bed, and the only available doctor doesn't believe in blood transfusions- it's against his personal religious beliefs. Oh, you'd just get another doctor? You're missing the point if you think that. That doctor can't exercise his beliefs on you, it isn't right.

If my taxes go to pay for your religious church services/out reach missions and programs, things that I don't agree with and I think harm people, then you should have to allow people to make their own decisions, rather than forcing their hand. Don't want to have an abortion or use birth control? Then don't, but respect another's views and rights.



Tuesday, August 14, 2012

You Shouldn't Have

One early summer day when I was about 4 years old, my dad took me back to the pond in the very back of our yard, nestled at the beginning of the woods. We often spent time back there clearing the brush, bird watching, and enjoying mother nature. This time, however, was slightly different, my dad had a big announcement to tell me.
"Well Jenny, Pa has some news to tell you: You're going to be big sister, you will have a little brother or sister soon." He said.



This conversation was the very catalyst for the many years of sibling rivalry and fighting that would come. However well-meaning my father was, he had clearly not prepared for the conversation well.


SHOULD HAVE SAID: "You get to teach your new little sibling all sorts of things, like how to draw and sing...




REALLY SAID: "This means big changes for you, you are going to have to share your Ma and Pa. It won't be just Jenny anymore..."



SHOULD HAVE SAID: "You are going to get a bigger room now, because you are older and have more toys."


REALLY SAID: "You're going to have to move rooms. The new baby needs space."


SHOULD HAVE SAID: “You get to show your new sibling how to play, you’ll have a playing buddy. Don’t worry though, the baby will have their own toys to play with!”

REALLY SAID: "Your toys are going to have to be shared, you aren't an only child anymore."


Apparently my Dad was surprise when this happened....




Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Bathroom Duh

A Bathroom Duh


Are you a woman? If so, chances are you've violated this bathroom "duh," so I'd like to take a moment to educate you on bathroom etiquette. When using the restroom, please do not sit RIGHT NEXT to an occupied stall. If there are a multitude of open stalls, please keep at least one space in between used stalls. Why, you may ask? It is the polite thing to do, when doing your business, the last thing you want is someone right next to you - it is like an intrusion! 



You might as well just open the door and stand there and watch. We aren't best friends, we don't need to use stalls right next to each other! Even if we were best friends I'd say "hey, bestie, move down a few stalls." Moving down a few spaces allows for me to think, in solitude. After all, this is really why I'm there in the first place. A stall space (minimum) allows a sound barrier. 



There are a few exceptions to this rule: is there are large, poisonous creature guarding the distant stalls? Go ahead and use the one next to me. Same applies if the stall is in poor condition. 


Remember the rule of thirds: stall #1 occupied? Skip stall #2, and number #3 is your friend.

P.S. Wash your hands. No exceptions.

Your Spawn



"Someday when you have children, you'll understand." My friends with children like to  philosophize, because apparently having kids is this mysterious game changer where the rules of common courtesy suddenly don't apply to you. As though I forgot what is was like to be child, or couldn't possibly relate or fathom the concept. Modern day parents really seem to develop some silly logic. One friend even tried to convince me that it was her babies' "good looks" that kept her motivated to get up in the middle of the night, sleep-deprived to take care of her baby. I couldn't break it to her that her "good looking baby" pretty much resembled a frog. Not to mention the sheer survival rate of ugly babies. Then she said those magic words parents seem to utter to give themselves a pardon for their bad behavior or ridiculous ideas "Some day when you have children, you'll understand."

Here is what I actually understand: having a kid doesn't let you off the hook for common sense! Your small/toddling children are not okay to wander or run around Starbucks/insert-restaurant-here/grocery store/clothing store/public place! Yet, in my work-escape coffee break at Starbucks, here is what I see every time:
  1.  Parents bring their children in and release them.
  2. Kid wanders over to the merchandise display case or other people and proceeds to touch, grab, break, explore things.
  3. Parent ignores kid forever, then finally "suggests" they do something different, usually using some vague logic on their one-year-olds along the lines of "we don't do that in public" (really? "we" don't? 'Cause they're doing it....)
Don't get me wrong: do I think a small child can sit quietly and wait for their parents to order coffee? OF COURSE NOT! But I'm not the one bringing them into a public space and letting them have-at-it, am I? Solution? Leash them. Pick them up. Hold their hands.

OR DRIVE THROUGH.