I have a bunch of kids that live in my complex. For most of the summer they have run around and carried on a little ways from my door since I have a large stretch of grass running along the front of my building. For some reason, today I want to go shout at them, but I know it's just the grumpy old man in my head today. While I was thinking about it, I came up with some dialog in my head for the encounter.
Me: "Guys go play somewhere else"
A little 8 year-old walks up to me and asks "Why?"
Me: "Because I'm in a bad mood and you guys are just exacerbating the situation."
Him: "What does 'exacerbate' mean?"
Me: "It means making it worse"
Him: "Why can't you just say 'making it worse'?"
Me: "I don't know, but that's beside the point. Why don't you guys go play in the grass behind the mailbox?"
Him: "My mom said I had to stay in site of the house"
Me: "You can still see it from over there"
Him: "No I can't"
Me: "Yes you can."
This panty bickering continues for several more minutes. It results in them going back to what they were doing, and me coming back inside. After thinking along these lines, I just decided not to say anything.
