Bad Nurse (But Not Really....UPDATE!)

So today when I got on the bus to get home it was full of a bunch of children who were clearly part of some kind of summer day camp going on a field trip.  There were about fifteen kids between the ages of 8 and 12 and the only people in charge were a couple of kids who couldn't have been older than 18.

As far as day camp kids on a city bus go they were fine.  I am used to some pretty obnoxious noise from day camp kids because hey, they're kids riding around the city without their parents.  What do you expect?  But these kids were actually pretty well-behaved if a little bit noisy.  One of the kids bumped into me because he didn't see me behind him and his friend started giving him shit.

"Look out Josh!  You just bumped into a LADY!"

I thought this was actually pretty nice because most of the time day camp kids are kind of oblivious to others around them.  I told them not to worry about it.  Just about every one of these kids were standing so as not to take up seats for other passengers and they were all trying very hard to stay out of the way.

But the lady I ended up standing beside was.  Not.  Having.  It.

"That's the problem with kids these days.  Parents can't be bothered to be around them.  Never learn any respect.  Bratty little thugs."

And it was this comment that caught my attention because the majority of these children were black.

And we all know what kind of people like to throw around the word "thug" to describe black children lately.

So I decided to stay close to this woman in case things got...interesting.

She continued to mutter complaints to the man who was sitting with her and glaring at the children any time they made any kind of noise.  

"Look at them!  Someone ought to give them a smack and teach them respect."

I would like, at this time to point out that the woman was wearing medical scrubs.  Since she was riding a city bus I'll go ahead and assume she was a nurse.  (*It turns out I am wrong about this.  See update at the end.*)

When it was time for the kids to get off the bus the tall teenaged boy in charge of them shouted in a loud booming voice, "OKAY EVERYONE!  THIS IS OUR STOP! EVERYBODY GET OFF THE BUS!"  While the smaller teenaged girl quietly rounded everyone up.  

And oh, Ms. Nurse Lady must have found this last bit exceptionally egregious because once all the kids were safely off the bus she very bravely flipped her middle finger at this group of 8 to 12 year olds.

That was enough for me.

"Really, Lady?  They're just children!"

"Why don't you mind your own fucking business?"  Was her reply.

"And those children are your business?"

"YOU'RE part of the fucking problem!"

"I am?  What problem?  What are you even talking about?"

"You just mind your own fucking business.  Those kids need to learn respect!"

"And they're going to learn it by you flipping them the bird?  Lady, YOU are the adult.  You should be better than that."

"You just shut up and FUCK OFF!!!"

"Really?  You're going to double down on this?  Okay."

"Yeah!"  She said, looking triumphant.  "That's what I thought."  

Oh.  I realise this means she thinks she has intimidated me into backing off instead of me just deciding I was dealing with an unbalanced person who wasn't worth the argument.  But this is some pretty classy behaviour coming from a professional health care provider, I tell you what.

Another passenger asked me why she was talking to me like that and I let him know she just stuck her middle finger up at a bunch of school children.  He laughed and said, "Maybe one of them stepped on her foot." Which made me giggle, too.

A few stops later this passenger was getting off the bus.  Before he did he leaned down and whispered something at Ms. Nurse Lady.  I would have given just about anything to hear what he said because she just turned beet red and turned away from him.

I think I can understand why many people would have found these kids annoying.  Not everyone is tolerant of the noise of children.  But choosing to tell a group of children to "fuck off" and then pretending to be better than them somehow?  That says a lot more about your character than it does about them.

UPDATE:Hey y'all!  I got a response from one of my awesome Jen friends who is an honest to goodness, bona fide NURSE!  And GREAT NEWS!  There's NO WAY this lady is also an honest to goodness, bona fide nurse.

Here's what Nurse Jen says:

Ok...whoa...backup.  Not all uniforms are created equal.  There are unregulated PSW's who can run off at the mouth and don't have a governing body to keep them in line.  They enjoy the fact that wen they get on the bus you mistake them for a REgistered Nurse, a position of years of education focused primarily on how to deal with other humans.  Here's the thing...we nurses have a governing body that prevents us from going all Willy-nilly out there...even off duty.  So I will be sticking to my guns when I say she was NOT a nurse.

And no mater where she works, she should not be dealing with the vulnerable sector!!

I had no idea there was this governing body but it makes perfect sense.  Thanks for the info Nurse Jen!  You're the best!