Who’s a Jerk?

Self-Administered Loot » »

« « At Last!

Why that would be ME!

I just got to tell some woman her baby (NOT crying) was too loud and disturbing people.

(sigh)

15 Responses to “Who’s a Jerk?”

John the Scientist Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
You’re not a jerk. How loud was it?
Michelle Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
It was pretty loud. Plus he was banging his toys on the tray of his stroller.

I just feel bad because he *wasn’t* crying.
John the Scientist Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
NO! DO NOT FEEL BAD!

This is Dad speaking, right now, and not Dad of teens who’s forgotten what toddlers are like, this is Dad of 2 kids in the “he’s touching me!” stage.

You bring a kid in a place where people are working / studying, you damn well BETTER get them under control. Hell, some little missy I know has been dragged out to the car from a Wal Mart when she was being bad. As if there weren’t 15 other kids around us being worse. That wasn’t the point. One day, Pop is going to have to take her to work because Mom’s got an emergency, and Pop don’t play that.

This woman is a fault, pure and simple. Now I realize there are times you need to do things and the kids aren’t cooperating. But you take care of the problem before someone else has to say something.
John the Scientist Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
And drink your soup, young lady!

:p
Jeri Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
testing to see if commenting produces error
Jeri Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
A family in-joke is that Zach is stalked by crying babies. No matter where we go, there are always one or more, screaming - restaurants, beach, store, mall, movie, etc… He’s never going to want children. :P

Have you read that we are in the midst of a baby boom? We’ve noticed it - everywhere you look, there are babies or pregnant women. (Not ME!)

And I don’t think you were being a jerk. Crying or happy - computer labs and study centers are not the place for distracting or disruptive children. It’s still not fun to be the bearer of bad news, though.
mattw Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
As the parent of a nearly two year old with a healthy set of lungs, I know other people don’t want to hear my kid. And unless we’re at a park or something like that, we try our hardest to keep him calm and quiet. Some parents don’t realize that there are other people around who don’t want to hear their brats and they need to be told about it.
LaliaTK Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I agree with John the Scientist.

Especially the part where he says that “(t)his woman is a fault.”
Eric Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Why do you hate babies, you baby-hating baby-hater person? Everyone was a baby once, so if you hate babies, you hate everyone.

:-P
Michelle Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Part of the problem is that I have a bit of a reputation as someone who doesn’t like children. Partially because I’m not having children of my own, and partially because if I go out to dinner (or wherever) I don’t want to listen to someone else’s screaming children.

So it’s not that I dislike children, I simply dislike poorly behaved children. And unfortunately there are a lot of those around.

Matt and John, I want you to know that I definitely appreciate parents like you. It drives me nuts when I’m at a restaurant (NOT a “family-style” restaurant, where I expect loud kids) and someone’s child has gotten bored and is screaming and yelling and the parents are ignoring the child.

However, I have to say that my friends all have pretty amazing kids, and I enjoy it when they bring their kids over, because their kids are enjoyable. (That means you Del!)
Michelle Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
By the way, I wrote that comment before I saw Eric’s comment.

Just so you know.
Eric Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
And now Eric feels two inches tall, just so you know. I hope I didn’t cause any offense.
Michelle Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
NOnononono! Not offended at all Eric!

I was just trying to explain why I worry about doing things like that, and why I feel like a jerk, because people perceive me as anti-child, when I’m not.

I just wanted you to know my comment was NOT in response to yours. It was completely independent.

So stand up straight and stretch out to your full three inches!
Eric Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
That’s three-and-a-half!

I just felt bad because I was joking, and didn’t realize it was an issue that some folks gave you a hard time about. I had a good friend who was considered “anti-child” after an incident where someone’s relative brought their kid to the office–it wasn’t even a coworker’s kid, it was a relative’s kid, and he had to say something because the kid–and all the office secretaries ooing and ahing over it–was causing a huge disruption while he was talking to a client.

The thing is, a year or so later he married a woman with a small child, and was absolutely the best stepfather you can imagine. The kid might as well have had his genes, he might have known her from birth the way he treated her. He was a good dad. So I think it was a situation not unlike yours, where one incident where he acted reasonably caused this unfair generalization.

(Sadly, the marriage ended up not quite working out, but that’s how it goes sometimes.)

Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t offend.
Michelle Says:
August 6th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I don’t get a hard time about it at all, but I think some people *assume* an offended stance on the subject, if that makes any sense. They don’t say anything, but I get funny looks when the subject of kids comes up.

And it really doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I spent more than enough time babysitting to know exactly what I’m missing out on! (laugh)