I know, I know, that people with kids have it very hard in today's society. I'm not disputing that. In fact, the parent in the situation I'm about to describe, I think behaved pretty appropriately. It was the Baby Boomer Mrs. Privledged Generation Grandmother who got me.

I only had one job today so I went to get my hair cut in the afternoon. I like to go to a local place down the street from me called The Croppe Shop. The lady who runs the place is a talented hair stylist and a friendly person - the shop is an asset to the neighborhood. I didn't have an appointment, so I readily agreed to wait about 20 minutes. The place has a very comfortable sofa in the little sitting area and pleanty of magazines.

Presently a lady a little younger than me came in with her kids. There were only 2 kids, but in the sitting area of a fairly small hair salon it can seem like more. They weren't bad kids. The older one was a pre-schooler and the younger one looked like she was about a year old. They were there, with BB Grandma in tow with her camera, for baby's first hair cut....even though Young Mom admitted, "This may not be a good day for it. She won't eat or drink anything and hasn't all day."

Okay, I'm thinking, what we have here is a sick baby, poor thing. I wonder why her mother doesn't realize it? But perhaps the other daughter didn't do that when she got sick and the second baby has enjoyed good health up to this point. I look up and see a listless, floppy little child in a bright pink outfit looking very wan under scraggly hair. Yep. Sick baby at 12:00 - Young Mom sits with her right across from me.

Before I could look back down at my magazine SPLAT! I get hit right in the eye with some liquid. This surprises me. I am, after all, sitting in the hairdressers minding my own business. It wasn't like I was out on the street where a bird could lay one on me - that happened last week.

So I put my hand up to my eye and try to figure out what it is. Did my contact lens explode? Did the sprinkler system go off? What hit me in the eye? Hair coloring? Nail polish? My parents used to frequently make the point that you only get one pair of eyes and the pair I have isn't exactly in spectacular shape: I wouldn't like to damage one if I could avoid it.

But, this doesn't look like a Hazmat situation. It looks like somehow a bunch of liquid from Infected Baby's sippy cup went flying. I look at my hand: is it orange juice? My eye feels a little wierd. "Oh, did I get you too. I'm sorry!" Young Mother says. I guess she was worried about her daughter and pulled the lid off the sippy cup too fast creating a splash.

"It's okay." I say, squinting....I suppose this may have made me look not especailly friendly, "It's just...it got me right in the eye" I say to explain why I am now looking at her with an expression like Quasimodo.

"Oh, for God's sake! It's only water!" BB Grandma says dismissivly and looks at me like I'm insane.

"Nevertheless, NOT what one expects to get hit in the eye with at any given moment." Some people just really press my buttons and this woman, with her "I could be my daughter's sister" clothes and expansive dropping of coat, purse, gloves and camera bag taking up almost all of the remaining space in the waiting area was one of them.

We glare at each other. Thankfully, before she can think of a reply my name was called.

But what IS it about people - particularly of that generation? Do they think nobody ever had grandchildren before? Was it incomprehensible to her that I was suprised to be splatted in the eye with the contents of a sippy cup while minding my own business? I mean, we were in what I consider a largely adult mileau: it's not like I was hanging around at a pediatricians office or a la leche league meeting.

My mother says that everything that happened to the Baby Boomers they acted like "They invented it....first it was sex. You'd think nobody ever had sex before. Then it was menopause - you'd have thought the world was coming to an end. I can't wait til they all have to get false teeth and hearing aides. Wonder how long before the marketers that have catered to them their whole lives come up with designer depends?"

Can't be long. At least her daughter hadn't absorbed the "we have the right to be obnoxious" mentality. Jeepers!