little monsters

Yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of spending almost 3 hours in a doctors office waiting room. This is bad enough under any circumstances, especially since you are likely sick if you are there. Add some idiot parents with an unruly 4 year old to the mix and I congratulate you if you are able to leave without being charged with a violent crime.
Before the kid started charging about shrieking and banging things around as much as possible, we could already sense trouble. The father was one of those cluelessly aging men desperately trying to hang on to some of his adolescent "cool." You know the type; badly receding hairline, hoop earings in both ears, sad mis-use of current slang, clothes that would be incredibly tacky if they were on someone age-appropriate. (The muppet style uni-brow was just a bonus)
As soon as the brat started in, both parents began their monotone pleading, "stop, come over here, stop, come over here..." On, and on, and on with predictably no results. Some people are just too stupid and or too lazy to have children and these were a prime example.
So, here's a kid who is learning at an early age that there are no consequences for disobedience and un-civil behavior. Suppose he'll grow up to be a delinquent? It's possible that he won't, but...