Making a scene

You know that quiet reading room at the Perry Hall library we've talked about here before, the one with the magazines and easy chairs and a fireplace for when it gets cold? A great place for people to while away an afternoon, or for students to get some work done at a table without a lot of rabble, or for this one guy who is always in there taking pictures of newspaper articles...hmmmm

Anyway, the silence in the room was broken harshly the other afternoon. I missed most of the contumacity, having filled my ears with Oriole baseball via earbuds (it doesn't matter that they lose the lion's share of their games; the call of the game by radio guys Joe Angel and Jim Hunter is terrific, no matter the score) but apparently a teenaged (maybe 15, 16) girl was having trouble with her laptop, or her words, or both.

Peggy was hearing the whole thing, and it was not pleasant. I saw others in the room craning around to see what was the matter, and it sure wasn't that Santa was outside causing a clatter.  Something on the screen had upset this young woman, and she reacted by cursing a blue streak, hurling f-bombs, slamming her laptop on the desktop, and violently dragging her stylus across the screen, vowing to "erase all of you *$(#)#@*ers forever."

A poem from Nipsey Russell:
Spring has sprung,
Fall has fell,
Now winter's here.
And it's colder than usual.

Yes, all this was out loud, in a room with other people in it, and she cared not one whit about that. At length she gathered her belongings and stormed out, leaving furrowed brows and shaking heads and a snicker or two from the people her age remaining. I felt sorry for her, because she hasn't learned to keep her equilibrium in bad times, and if she doesn't develop that ability, she will face a tough life, because as sure as God made little green apples, there will be more bad times for her.

She appeared not to be from a deprived background, but it made me wonder.  Was this a case of parental neglect, where one or both parents or guardians never stepped up to show her how a reasonable adult deals with it when they grab the, uh, dirty end of the stick?  Or was it one of those deals where her folks have always stepped up to pave the way for her to walk along merrily, as they turned a gray sky blue for her? 

I don't know what's worse, an adolescent who has nothing done for them, or one who has everything done for them. I know it's hard to strike that balance, and maybe she was just one girl having one bad day, but somehow I doubt that. 

I do hope she gets the guidance she needs, and a sense of perspective. If she likes, I can quote relevant lyrics from classic country music songs, and recite endless bromides and limericks.  So if you know this troubled young person, please talk to her, so she doesn't have to hear my corny advice.