Little fishy

Some days are just more taxing than they really need to be.  Today I had great plans to take my son to Sunshine Aquarium with friends.  Our friends had never been there and we were happy to show them the fun underwater world. 

We met up way too early.  I used to be a morning person before I became a mom.  But now I need every ounce of extra sleep I can find.  Also, since Japan doesn't seem to wake up until much later than I've always been used to (for example, grocery stores don't open until 10 or 11!), I've been less inclined to get out of bed in the morning.  But I had promised to meet at 8:45 am at the bus station, so there we were.

Our boys were super excited to spend the day together and started chasing each other around the pedestrian walkway.  When they ran in front of a woman on a bike, she stopped quickly and scolded them with a stern look and a sharp word.  After explaining, yet again, about why we don't run in front of bikes, it was time to get on the bus. 

On our 40 minute bus ride, the boys were doing really well.  I brought magazines for them to read.  They "read" to each other and were very well behaved.  A woman came and sat down next to me (I was sitting in the seat in front of the boys while my friend sat with them).  Their feet gently hit the back of the seat and she turned and gave them a dirty look.  Then our friend's son touched the back of the seat.  The woman jerked forward, glared at him, and moved seats.  My friend and I tried to suppress a laugh.  The boys hadn't done anything wrong.  I guess their presence really bothered her though.

At the aquarium, it was much more crowded than usual.  Since it is summer break, I wasn't surprised about how many people were there.  I was surprised though at how many rude encounters we had.  People were putting their feet on seats for the sea lion show so no one could sit in front of them.  A little boy pushed my son out of the way in front of the jelly fish tank.  His father didn't do anything until I reached down and didn't let him ram my son any more.  He then huffed and picked up the boy and took him somewhere else. 

It really felt like one thing after another.  I wanted to lash out.  I wanted to rant about how weird and frustrating everything seemed to be today.  But in a city this crowded, you don't lash out.  You don't react.  Instead, it is expected to just try to avoid confrontation and continue on your way.  I'm not very good at this.  I felt challenged to take the higher road in these instances and a couple others as well.  If it wasn't for my friend, I might have succumbed to the negativity of the day.  Luckily for me, I had her by my side and the desire to have a good day won.