Community Chat

[SahmIam]

I and my 12 year old son witnessed this yesterday at a doctors office. I wasn't aware my son was watching but, as you will see, he was.

Large office with plenty of chairs. End of day appointment so it's my son and I and another  woman. She is sitting near us but not next to us. Her row consists of an end table with a few magazines, her, a chair next to her holding her purse and coat and then an empty chair. My son and I are sitting in chairs up against the wall/windows that line the entire wall. PLENTY of places to sit. Woman is reading a magazine. Large TV on the wall across of her with a Hallmark movie playing.

A woman comes out of the door from the examination area carrying a coat,large bag, a pair of winter boots, large bundle of keys and a large orthopedic walking cast/boot (yes, we were at the orthopedist for my sons' casts removal). She places all that stuff on the chair with difficulty (she's struggling to place it all in the one chair)  next to the chair holding the other women's coat and purse. The woman smiles, and places her coat and purse on the end table next to her and goes back to reading. The other woman grabs her stuff and says to the woman reading:

" That's okay. I already own my stuff. I don't need to take your stuff".

 As she stands up with her stuff, the woman reading looks at her, smiles and goes back to her reading. The woman who made that statement looks at her with a ticked off face, pick up her belonging and walks out.

Now, I'm thinking to myself 'did the lady reading actually HEAR what the woman said to her? I doubt it. But in my mind, it was ****** rude. And more importantly, WHY did she choose to say that? As I'm thinking this, my son leans in and says to me "Mom, why was that lady so rude to her? She was only moving her stuff to give her more room. You know, that's why people hate each other today. No one is nice to anyone anymore".

Sad comment about Life, isn't it? Out of the mouth of babes. But I'll tell you, It still makes me wonder. Because if she had said that to me, I would have responded with an "Excuse me?!" and I don't know how it would played out. I can think of other people who would have come back with something just as snarky and well...there it is. 

Once again, the question is asked: What HAS happened to society today? And for those wondering, both women were 40-50ish.

[pattypeep]

@SahmIam  IMO, the lady reading the book handled herself perfectly and with dignity. No sense in snarky comebacks. 

[Piperdellilah]

Sounds like the rude lady wanted to start a fight for some reason, the other lady handled it gracefully. What a strange thing to say to someone though.  

[Suzeecat]

It absolutely was NOT necessary for her to be rude.  I would have acted the same way as the woman who moved her stuff.  The woman was no doubt overwhelmed by the situation she was in - an armload of paraphernalia and most likely uncomfortable about the boot.  She may have had a long wait and an unsatisfactory outcome to her visit with the dr.  All that said, that's no excuse to take it out on someone who is trying to be helpful.  The other woman did the right thing by not escalating the situation.  No good would have come from that. 

[Deanie]

Certainly was a teachable moment for you and your son was it not? It is interesting at how young people sometimes can correctly asses a situation and sum it up. Sometimes I have witnessed others making somebody or someone a target for their anger or other aberrant behavior. Could be many reasons, and, one can only wonder what would have transpired if the sitting woman had not passively sat there and instead, asked with a straight face and no smile why the standing woman was being rude to her. I can only say that this is bullying behavior, and, to add further it is becoming more frequent. To correctly assess the nature of this escalating trend we would need a copy of the DSM-5

[Pook]

So many any more are suspect of everyone and don't know how to trust and be nice!!  There are so many who see everything to be negative and in their minds it's others that are rude!!  That is sad.  

[SahmIam]

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@Piperdellilah wrote:

Sounds like the rude lady wanted to start a fight for some reason, the other lady handled it gracefully. What a strange thing to say to someone though.  

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@Piperdellilah  I know, right?!  I honestly thought I had misheard what she said until my son leaned in and spoke to me. Makes you wonder what kind of agenda or mind-set people have today. No matter what you do/ say, SOMEONE is going to be offended by it, it appears. 

[SahmIam]

@chrystaltree  Why does it matter? Because if we accept/allow people to treat each other this way, it becomes the norm. Because my 12 year old son knew it was wrong for someone to be treated rudely when they are courteous. Because rudeness is taking over in our society and not all of us want it to be that way. Last, it says that when you're nice to someone, you'll be treated poorly back so why bother? Something else my son, at 12, has seen played out repeatedly and in his gut, believes is wrong.

Why should it matter indeed....

[CrazyDaisy]

Just as words can be misunderstood, so can a persons actions.