Oh boy, today was good, right up to the point it started to suck ...

Hi all,

Well, today has been a mixed bag. My wife and I both had a day off. Praise be! Rare as hen's teeth that ...

So we had lunch out, and nice trip to the beach, some sun, England won the test match, and all is good with the world ......

And life can turn around fast when you take your eye off the ball .... holy moly.

On the way home, we stopped into a supermarket to get some cheeses and snacks for a light evening supper watching the Hundred (yes, I do like cricket, sorry!)

I had two kids standing there, gawping at my lumps, and oh Dear God did they kick off a fuss. Had anyone intervened, I would have been in serious trouble. An adult bloke, aged 50, cannot challenge two 12 year olds. They can say what they want, and I cannot do or say anything, because the parents were absent, letting their kids mindlessly wander around causing misery to passers by. As remarked to my wife, I would have felt less conspicuous if I'd been disguised as a seriously discredited cigar smoking BBC DJ. Yes that one.

But God help you if you challenge them ... Personally, I had no issue with the children's reaction. But the parents apathy ? I refuse to say in polite company how I feel about this.

Some people suck at being people. I was furious!

But to put it in context, when we came home, a car pulled in front of us. We were on a blind bend and a car pulled out without looking. He didn't see us almost right on top of him.

I never fully appreciated what a truly great driver my wife is. She recognised in a heartbeat that she would never have successfully done an emergency stop. She would have been in a big impact. And so, she did the exact opposite. She gunned it, put us on the wrong side of the road, and got past the car that nearly took us out. If she'd tried to stop, we'd be in hospital now, and lucky to be talking ....

You never really realise how fragile life is.

We must work harder to stop the stares, but at the same time, we must treasure every precious moment we have, because you can never assume that tomorrow is certain. Had Mrs CB gotten that one wrong, tomorrow might have looked very different.

Please, take hold of someone you love, and tell them how much you love them, and let them tell you the same back. That could be family. That could your friend. For me, it is my wife.

Don't leave it. It won't wait.

And yes. I'm completely fine. I'm laughing about it now. I'm just staggered by my wife's astonishing driving skills. And very grateful for them. and enjoying the cricket!

Best wishes to all.

CB

[AlwaysSmiling Community Ambassador]

Hi Hidden , I hope you're well.

Wow, that sounds like quite an eventful day you had! I'm very glad to hear that you and your wife are ok after the scare in the car. You're very right, life is precious and it's unfortunate that it takes times like that to remind us and put other things into perspective. It's great to practise gratitude as often as we can because it can help to lift our mood and help us realise how lucky we are!

That being said, your feelings from earlier in the day are still valid. You have every right to feel how you did because being stared at can be very uncomfortable as I know from experience. I guess children could just be curious or lack awareness of the fact that what they're doing is wrong, but this is no excuse for their parents - they should know better!

Hopefully one day we'll live in a world where people are educated enough to know that being different does not make you "abnormal" and that there is no reason to stare. But I guess for now our fight for this kinder world is not over yet! x

[Hidden in reply to AlwaysSmiling]

yes, you're right. Those feelings ARE valid.

But I put them in their place. I realised where my loyalty, my priorities and my life are.

I would wish that numpties don't do this, but if I scored it, it would be -5 on 1 to 10. When I put it in context to the love and devotion that goes on between Mrs CB and I, well that scores +20.

On balance, we are winners.

I do wish we could solve the staring. That's why I'm here. I want to see people open and talk and lets work to solve this.

We'll get there. With good people speaking out, I have no doubt. I think it will take a while, but we will prevail. I think we are a long way from it it, though, which means that I would love to hear from everyone affected, with the proviso that people must be ready to talk. The more we sing together, with one voice, the more the world will listen to us.

Love to all.

CB x

[AlwaysSmiling Community Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

I'm glad you've managed to keep a positive outlook on that pretty eventful day. With that mindset you can get through anything!

I totally agree! Together this community can raise enough awareness and stop the stares. It may take some more time yet but it's not impossible!

[Hidden]

Ah, staring children and their ignoring parents can be annoying. Also, the poor lighting of the supermarket usually doesn't do us any favors!

It also happens to me a lot. The worst thing is to get stuck in line with a kid like that. Once the cashier asked me what happened to my face and the eyes of all people focused on me... At such moments I would like someone else to go shopping.

I'm not from the UK so I don't know anything about cricket, but it sounds like something you really should thank your wife for watching with you... It's probably even more of an effort than being a great driver.

I'm glad that you both are fine!