If Santa’S Watching, He’S Getting Less Jolly

It was a simple idea.

Hang out at a video rental store and listen to little kids discuss holiday movies.

Mostly I wondered if today’s children had any interest in some of the Christmas classics. And luckily, the video place I visited Saturday afternoon had several display racks dedicated to holiday movies.

But things didn’t really work out as planned. You see, the whining drove me out.

Virtually every kid in the store was being rotten. And their parents weren’t acting much better.

Fussing. Smartmouth backtalk. Shrieking. Punching. Fake crying. And general ugliness. There was an epidemic of bad behavior.

Maybe it was the result of kids having been cooped up during a rainy weekend. Or maybe it was a clear sign that society is unraveling.

In any event, anyone compiling “Naughty or Nice” lists would have used only half the ledger.

Now let me make a couple of things clear. I know there are lots of terrific parents. And I also realize that kids will be kids. Bad days happen.

But what I saw in that brightly lighted video store Saturday was something else. It was the curse of low expectations.

Maybe the parents were worn down and tired. Or maybe they were simply accustomed to nonstop arguing.

In any case, nobody was insisting that the kids shape up. Nobody.

And these children weren’t just experiencing normal tantrums. This was learned communications style/negotiating strategy.

I don’t have enough evidence to say where these kids learned this. But one can guess.

Time and again, a parent’s ruling on a video would be loudly vetoed by a foot-stomping child. And then the parent would relent.

Yuck.

But maybe I’m all wrong about this. Perhaps learning to whine perfectly equips someone for modern life. Who knows.

OK, the long Thanksgiving weekend isn’t a normal time. Nerves can frazzle. But there’s only so much you can blame on the weather and the holiday.

I didn’t gain much insight about whether kids enjoy the original version of “Miracle on 34th Street.”

I did, however, learn that yelling “I want THIS ONE” is a reliable approach to getting your way.

Walking outside, I noticed that a Salvation Army bell-ringer wasn’t attracting much attention. It occurred to me that I ought to go back into the video store and draft one of those kids to stand by the contributions kettle and whine.

“C’monnnnnnnnn, put some money innnnnnn.”