I’m told I have very expressive eyes. Even when I’m trying to keep a neutral expression, my eyes say exactly what I’m thinking. I should probably never try to play poker without giant Hollywood style sunglasses. So it should be of no surprise that I have a tendency to roll my eyes on occasion. It try to keep them in place, but the just rotate upwards all of their own accord.
That terrible habit has gotten me in trouble a few times such as when I’m being sternly lectured or told something that I would love to respond with a resounding “duhhhhhhhhhh”. Also, once in 9th grade gym class, one of the tough girls thought I had rolled my eyes at her and she supposedly wanted to beat me up after class. Great. This sweet, quiet, violin toting nerd managed to piss off one of the meanest short-tempered chicks in school when I swear on a stack of bibles that on that occasion it really was a case of trying to shift my new ill fitting contacts back into position. Thankfully nothing came of it, but I digress.
What got me thinking about all of this was a segment on a radio program I heard in the car the other day. The topic was disciplining your kids and how things had changed greatly over the years. One of the callers said that she had an unruly adolescent daughter that was being fresh mouthed and sneaking on the internet at all hours of the night. The tipping point for the mom was when she confronted the daughter about her unauthorized internet usage yet again and the girl rolled her eyes. The mom took away her cell phone and cancelled the internet service for the entire house … for three years!!! Tough mom.
One of the show’s hosts said that she had been taught a valuable lesson by a friend that if someone, particularly a child, rolls their eyes but yet complies with what is requested (say taking out the trash), this should actually be respected. The person is showing their discontent over having to do something that is not enjoyable, but yet they do it. Everyone on the show clucked how that was a fantastic way to view matters and that they should adopt that mindset. I thought that was insane.
If an employee rolled their eyes over a boss’ request but still complied, that wouldn’t go over well. And we all know how well eye rolling goes over in the spanking world. Lead balloon anyone? That eye roll alone could result in a quick spanking. Or if those eyes rolled up to meet the ceiling during the pre-spanking lecture, that could very well result in additional punishment.
So what do you think from both a real world perspective as well as the spanking world perspective? Is eye rolling a disrespectful act that should result in reprimand or punishment or is it something that should be overlooked entirely? If the latter is the case, then I’m owed a lot of retro get out of spanking free cards.