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Seriously what is up with whining about people bringing their kids shopping. I get that they hate poor people I just would expect them to have more than one thing to talk about

Edit: Even though I enjoy conflict, I guess I'll add some context here anyway. The usual line I hear as smalltalk is "You don't have to bring the whole family shopping," which if you don't shut it down immediately, will be followed up with some of the most racist and/or classist statements you can imagine, typically involving birth rates

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  • To be fair you don't have to be rich to teach your kids how to act while their out in public.

    Unless they're baby age, then yeah babies gonna cry sometimes, it happens.

    • Noisy isn't necessarily inappropriate behavior in public. People should be less tightassed

      • I dunno man, on one hand, I kind of agree with you for the most part, on the other hand, if you're out in public you should be mindful that it's not your house and there are people around that may be dealing with shit you don't know about. People with PTSD and sensory issues gotta shop too.

        • They do, but so do parents of kids with behavioral issues and such. I'm not saying "don't teach your kids to be respectful in public," I'm saying that a lack of childcare is the source of the conflict and the amount of "they need to hit that kid" that passes for smalltalk is outrageous, selfish, and whiny

      • I was in a theater once with a woman who brought her toddler into a horror movie, and when the kid predictably started crying, she pulled out her phone and put on baby shark at damn near full volume for them. Some people do need to be less tightaased, but some people also genuinely don't know how to act in public anymore.

        • Don't get me wrong, I'd get theater staff involved at that point

          It's usually shopping that people talk about - specifically something necessary, boring, and time-sensitive where you're likely to encounter behavior problems in larger families because it's a kid-unfriendly environment where most activities are impossible, and the parent is having to divide their attention between all of the kids and shopping

          • I did, and I hated it. But my girlfriend had been looking forward to that particular movie for a minute, and I didn't want her night to be ruined. I don't know that I would've done so otherwise, I'm usually too non-confrontational to do anything aside from just tolerating it.

            At any rate, yeah, in situations like a shopping trip or any public place where quiet isn't an expectation, I don't really think it can be helped. Some kids are going to act up, it's a pain in the ass, but it's understandable, and most people really have no choice but to bring their kids everywhere. I'll admit to grousing about it whenever I run into noisy kids in public, but I used to be just the same at their age. Probably worse. It'd be hypocritical of us to forget how annoying we used to be.

            • Yeah, that does suck. I'm really confused over why anyone would want to stay in a movie theater to comfort a baby in the first place

              Hey, no shame in grousing so long as you don't fundamentally oppose pro-child methods for making it not have to be that way

              • Lord only knows. Even in the moment I was trying to be empathetic though. I don't recall the particulars, but I overheard her conversing with a guy she'd brought (she was in the row directly in front of us, which kinda made the whole thing worse lol) and it sounded like her life was pretty screwy. The poor thing probably has a hard time getting out.

                Oh hell yeah. I feel that anybody who feels strongly about it should support things like universal childcare, if not for the million and one reasons that that's a good and proper thing to do, than at least because it demonstrates genuine principles to put your money where your mouth is.

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