Mean Girls

I went to Megan’s softball game last night. I picked up 8 girls at the church and took them from Young Women’s to softball. They were all singing and laughing and talking in the car. It was kind of fun to be at the ball field with friends and neighbors, although WAY too cold to start a softball game at 8:00 pm. Our girls did well, but ended up losing 8 to 9. On the way home, however, I found out the real details of the game. It turns out that the “MEAN girl” from basketball, the one who badmouthed and namecalled through the entire basketball game, is now playing softball. And she isn’t any nicer. She called them all names, and when standing at the base, was rude and mean the whole time. She called one of our girls “Pinky” because she was wearing pink capri pants. “I’m never wearing these pants again!” she said on the way home. I tried to explain to the girls that this mean girl probably doesn’t have very many friends, and maybe she doesn’t know how to behave properly. I also tried to give them a few tips of things they could say back to her if they meet up again. Since she wasn’t yelling these rude comments, none of the parents (or the umpire) heard them, but ALL of the girls knew what she was up to.

It makes me mad that this little snot thinks she can just bad mouth and be rude to our girls and get away with it. I wish I knew her name and could report her to the coach or the umpire or the officials or something. I wish we could get her banned from girls sports for her unsportsmanlike conduct. But, in reality, there are mean girls around, and our girls are going to have to deal with it. Hopefully they will learn to do that in a way that they aren’t being just as mean and shallow.

So last night I dreamed a dream inspired by mean girl. In my dream I was back in high school. Melinda was my locker partner. And there was a mean girl who would always say rude things to me. Not quietly, but loud, so everyone could hear. (Now before you start feeling all sorry for me and my poor friendless childhood, I really can’t think of anyone who tortured me through school like that, and I had a lot of really good friends.) When I walked by this mean girl (in my dream), she said something very rude and snotty to me, and I just laughed it off (dream Paige has very high self-esteem, I guess). Then I went up to her and put her arm around her and said, “Oh, sweetie, what would I do without you in my life? I honestly don’t know.” She looked at me totally shocked, and just walked away with her jaw hanging open. And in my dream, she stopped being rude to me and was nice to me forever more.

Don’t you wish all uncomfortable situations could be handled so easily?