So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

[Thajeffski]

Situation:
coming back in to the harbor, slow down to no wake speed, watching two 12 year old boys drive a 13/14 foot boat...they are a little behind me and to the right.

NO LIFE VESTS ON or ON BOARD btw.


Anyway, I get a call, and have to pull a u turn. I've got plenty of room so I turn left. As I'm doing it one of the kids gives me the finger for a solid 10 seconds!!! Looks right at me too.

What do I do??

I continue the turn and end up behind them. Speed up a bit and I asked "would you like to do that again??"

-I'm sorry sir it was an accident.

"How about I follow you back to your parents dock and we'll talk about what you just did"

-No sir I'm really sorry it was an accident

"The next time you come out here you had better have life vests on and leave your crappy attitudes at home boys"


And I turned back around!

The girl with me said I should have written down their boat name and filed a complaint. However I remember when i was stupid...

Anyway, just thought I'd share that story ****in kids!

 

[Boss Hawg]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

Sad but i think you wasted a couple minutes of you life's breath you'll never get back
Laugh at them, continue on & enjoy your time

 

[jakebrake]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

ahh, to be young again...and i still wouldn't have pulled that crap. respect for one's elders. guess we lost that virtue

 

[sunkentreasure]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

You did EXACTLY the right thing........letting them know that adults are adults, to be repected. Isn't it amazing how docile they got when actually confronted? "Accident"........pretty weak try, kiddo.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

If he was telling his friend a story and he was "acting" out part of it by giving the middle finger, I would have just kept going, but this little turd made solid eye contact with me while doing that...........and I was w/ a hot blonde

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I can't believe that kids now adays have the audacity to do something like that! My parents very strictly instilled the discipline of "respecting your elders" pretty much as soon as I could talk. If I was that kid, I woulda had to offer you a Capri Sun or something so you didn't tell my father, he woulda beat some sense into me. I always use sir and ma'am to this day no matter who the person is. Kids need some respect for their elders.

 

[bluebayou]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

Way of the world now. Everyone else is parenting kids of parents who didn't parent.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I disagree with " its the way of the world now."
Its the fault of all the tree hugging pasifests. And the parents of the parents that didnt do their jobs. I swear i got a good whipping once a week, if for nothing else than good mesaure. And to this day I dont lie, cheat, or steal.
I'm a firm beliver that every kid should have to do 2 years military service in one of the branches. If for no other reason than to learn some respect for their fellow human beings.
We all have become complacent with no accountability.

almost got off on a rant there.

 

[dontask]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

If I were their parent and they did what you said, I would want you to follow them back to dock where I was at (without saying anything to them) and then we would discuss the issue. They would be reprimanded for the gesture. But------maybe there is another side to this story.

 

[bluebayou]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I don't agree w/ corporal punishment for kids, although I had the same. It creates a whole nuther slew of problems. That's really not called parenting either, but I guess it was at least attention, better than what's going on now?

Oh, and the military is parenting our kids. Thanks for the reminder. Anyone else doing the parenting? Teachers, cops, military... add on.

Parents should parent.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

If I were their parent and they did what you said, I would want you to follow them back to dock where I was at (without saying anything to them) and then we would discuss the issue. They would be reprimanded for the gesture. But------maybe there is another side to this story.

Maybe if I wasn't going back out to rescue a friend (and their dock was on the way to my dock) I would have. Also the harbor is LONG (20 mins long) and wide - so following back would have been too much.

I really don't know why he did it. I was in the no wake area before they were and when I made the U turn it brought me further away from them, they didn't have to change course even in the slightest.

 

[Showtime22]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I don't have a problem with the way you confronted them.

People are so tough when they are behind the wheel....They need to realize that they aren't any more important then the next guy.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I can't say a thing... To my embarrassment, i remember a somewhat similar episode when I was somewhere around that age... the gentleman didn't offer to escort me home, but did promise to show me where my finger belonged... My parents were very good parents - I was the problem.

 

[willamettejeff]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

Good job. You handled the situation perfectly. If more people would challenge bad behavior directed at them or others by kids and adults as well the world would become a better place.

 

[dontask]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

I don't have a problem with the way you confronted them.

People are so tough when they are behind the wheel....They need to realize that they aren't any more important then the next guy.

"They need to realize" what ?
If the guy that gave the "finger" was 235 lbs of solid muscle instead of 12 year boy do you think he would have been confronted at all? I bet you would have sucked it up and moved on (even in front of your girlfriend).
With so many drunks driving on the water, the 'finger" is the least of boating's problems.

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

For the record.............

Should have shrugged it off. By choosing to engage them, you may have crossed the line.

Remember their age and try not to descend to their level.

Off the record................

Whippersnappers

 

[wca_tim]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

btw... the hot chick would probably have been much more impressed if you hadn't given the act any credence at all and had just laughed about it in passing...

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

nah, she's a teacher and I know she liked it

 

[lowkee]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

Good job. You handled the situation perfectly. If more people would challenge bad behavior directed at them or others by kids and adults as well the world would become a better place.

Well put! Now we just need a method of getting people to understand this horribly simple concept.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: So a 12 year old driving a boat gave me the finger!!!

The main problem with kids today is 2 parents having to work and CPS telling them they cant touch their kids without fear of getting them taken away . When I grew up my dad had a BELT and I knew it my princaples all had wooden paddles ( most with holes drilled in them ) . I understood if I was stupid I was gonna get the belt and if I was stupid at School I was going to get the paddle and then get the Belt when I got home . This gave me the ability to dicide it was smarter not to be stupid . I flat out told one of the little punks in my neighborhood and his mother that if I saw him in my yard or near my daughter nobody else would ever see him again.


Rick