I Had Become A Force To Be Reckoned With... My Mean Streak Came Out

I Had Become A Force To Be Reckoned With... My Mean Streak Came Out...

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

My son, Tommy... and myself... Gloria Faye Brown Bates

(Note:  The quality of many of my 'older' photos aren't the best ... they survived a housefire that claimed all our belongings.  Thankfully, I had an old suitcase full of photos ... so many were wet from the firemen's hoses... but, a lot survived after working with them.  In this photo, Tommy was about 5-6 years older than when the incident happened that I write about below.....

 

　

This morning as I was showering, the thought came to me... everyone of us, no matter how good we try to be... have a mean streak in us. Don't believe me? I think by the time you read this... you'll say, 'hey, that's right... I do have a mean streak in me'!

I promise you that I truly try to be the best person I can be. I'm fair, honest, caring... I have such a big heart. No matter... let the situation be right... I'm a mean old girl. I would fight 'tooth and nail', fall out in the dust and stir it up... if had to be. I would 'do what I had to do' in certain situations. I think you will agree with me, say you would do the same thing. There's a line 'somewhere' that each of us will 'draw in the sand'.... and say... 'no'!

Now... this is just my way of thinking... my 'Gloria Opinion'... so, whatever you do, don't do... know that you make your own decisions for yourself... I make mine... for myself. :))) We are all responsible adults... right? :)))

Let's say for instance... you have a small, precious child. You are sitting back talking to someone while you watch them play in the park. You are relaxed, and the person you are laughing, talking to... thinks you are the nicest person ever. All of a sudden... you begin to tense up... you sit up straight... a terrible expression appears in your eyes. What you see... you don't like. Your lips tighten up as you watch... you don't even know you have stood up... and have begun to walk, then... run. Your hands are clenched as if... as if...

When it's all over with... your memory of what happened is just a blur. Recognize any of what I'm saying? While you were sitting there... watching your precious child, you were all kicked back, relaxed. You were talking about this, talking about that.... smiling, happy... at peace with the world.

All of a sudden, your whole body language changed... you became a 'force to be reckoned with'..... you didn't know you were... the person you were talking to didn't know what was happening... they just witnessed you 'becoming something'... you became something fierce, something no one could stop! Like all of a sudden a tornado appeared... and it was going to 'blow hell wide open'!

Why? Because you saw an older child run over to your child, slap him/her to the ground. Your eyes didn't believe what you just saw... and by the time your little child got up... that big child knocked him/her back to the ground. You became the wind, you moved like the wind... and Lord help what was in your path. You were going to protect your little child... somebody's ass was 'going to get it... come hell or high water'.....

You reach the big child as he hit your child in the nose, making blood spurt everywhere.... by the time you 'became aware of your surroundings'... 'all hell had done broke loose'... and that big bully child was standing there looking at you in horror. You had jerked him away from your child, your voice had 'become a monster voice... daring him to touch your child again'! You became ... a force to be reckoned with... just enough to take care of the situation.

I remember a time when my son was small... we were visiting my mother... we were sitting at the dining table looking through the glass doors as my son ran to play basketball with my older brother, and his older friend. I watched as the older friend grabbed a stick, ran and hit my son. That was all I remembered... until I heard my mother's voice telling me to stop.

My child was being hurt.... the big guy didn't want my little son to get in their way. He began switching him... that was all it took for the protective instinct in me as a mother... to come out. Come out, it did!

That's how fast a storm can come up... the sky can be all fluffy, white clouds... the sunshine golden, warm... all of a sudden... all turns black, the rain pours down, the wind blows hard. A storm can go away... just as fast...

I didn't remember running out the sliding doors to get to my son, to protect him... when I became aware of myself... I had both hands on the big guy's shoulders... trying to push him into the ground. I had become a 'monster'.... I had become ... the storm that came up out of the blue... I had become a force to be reckoned with.  A very mean streak inside me... showed up.