Rated ‘M’ For Mother

(I decide to stop at my favorite video game store at the mall the very day that the final entry to an insanely popular video game trilogy is released. It’s reasonably crowded due to this and nearly everyone in the store is purchasing this game.)

Customer #1: *speaking loud enough that half the store can hear her over the chatter* “This is the game he wants?”

Customer #1’s Husband: “Yeah. He has the other two, so I told him we’d get it.”

Customer #1: “What’s this rated?” *she looks at the back* “There’s blood and violence in this! I’m not buying our son a murder simulator! He’s going to think it’s okay to shoot people!”

(That part of the store gets quiet quickly and everyone who heard what had been said turns to look at her, some of them holding a copy of the game of which she was referring.)

Customer #2: “Ma’am, I respect your decision not to buy your son something you feel is inappropriate for him and applaud you for looking into things before you buy them for him, but I’d like to point out that it’s generally not a good idea to vocally imply a room full of strangers are murderers for liking a game.”

Customer #1: “Oh… um… sorry…”

(She couldn’t have gotten out of there quick enough. The rest of the store laughed and things quickly went back to normal. A few minutes later, her husband comes back to buy the game.)

Employee: “Oh, are you the one who was in here with that woman earlier? You’re buying this for your son, right? I trust you’re already aware that this game is rated ‘M.'”

Customer #1’s Husband: “Yeah. You don’t have to give me the spiel about that, though. She forgot that he’s 23…”