And she said, "Yours won't amount to anything!"

[Slartibartfast]

I would explain to my children (loudly) that is why it is a bad idea to drink before 4

[Mrs Mungo]

I would explain to my children (loudly) that is why it is a bad idea to drink before 4

 

Gahhh...you almost killed me, my cough is bad enough without aspirating soda!

[smrtmama]

Some people just weren't raised right, Daisy, and you know there's just not much to be done for those kind of people, bless their hearts.

[Daisy]

I would explain to my children (loudly) that is why it is a bad idea to drink before 4

 

OMWord, that is too hilarious! :rofl:

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

:grouphug:

[Daisy]

Some people just weren't raised right, Daisy, and you know there's just not much to be done for those kind of people, bless their hearts.

 

I can hear your accent when you say, "bless their hearts." I think that ranks right up with the super polite gritting teeth, "Fine, dear, I'm just fine."

[Mrs Mungo]

I can hear your accent when you say, "bless their hearts." I think that ranks right up with the super polite gritting teeth, "Fine, dear, I'm just fine."

 

I think you should combine that with the drinking comment.

 

"Well, bless your heart!" then turn around to the kids "see, children, this is why drinking before a Costco trip is a BAD IDEA."

[Slartibartfast]

I think you should combine that with the drinking comment.

 

"Well, bless your heart!" then turn around to the kids "see, children, this is why drinking before a Costco trip is a BAD IDEA."

 

:lol:

[Kathleen in VA]

Daisy, you are a much better woman than I. I'm fuming just reading this.

 

This kind of thread is good for me to read because it gives me time to ponder what in the world I would say if something like that ever happened to me. I'm imagining her asking why I chose to homeschool and thinking innocently, "How nice. She's genuinely interested in homeschooling." After a few more questions I would probably begin to realize my first impressions weren't all that accurate.

 

If I had any sense I might reply to the first rude question with, "I'm sure it isn't any of your business." Barring that, because I rarely have sense at moments like that, and supposing I got myself into this same sort of pickle where a complete stranger is telling me my kids won't amount to anything, I'm hoping I'll at least be able to say something a little patronizing in a sickeningly sweet patronizing tone such as, "Oh, honey, what's the matter? Did you burn your toast this morning or are your hemorrhoids acting up again?" I probably wouldn't have the guts, lol.

[newlifemom]

I can just see about half a dozen of us surrounding her, holding our big, thick copies of WTM.

 

"You want we should whack her boss?"

 

LOL!!!!!!!!:lol:

[pianoplayer]

Sorry you had to experience this! Sounds like it's time for a quote from The Odyssey: "Your looks, my fine [sir/lady], far exceed your breeding." :001_smile:

[Jenny Piaaree]

Unbelievable. I'm sorry you had to experience that, but I want to congratulate you on your dignity under pressure. You modeled beautiful self-control for your kids, and it sounds like they have already learned from your good example. I hope I can do as well if ever faced with a similar situation.

 

Jennifer

[sheryl]

Vent Start.

 

I was standing in line at Costco this morning with my two children who were being very well-behaved. We needed to pick up treats for the Valentine party. Behind me was a little old lady who asked why my children were not in school. With a smile on my face, I explained we home school. It went downhill from there. She started grilling me as to my reasons. I just attempted to stay upbeat and keep the conversation light.

 

Then in front of the cashier and everyone else in a very long line she cuts me off and says, "I don't believe in THAT [home school]! My children grew up to be lawyers and doctors. Yours won't amount to anything!"

 

GASP! She said that right in front of my children.

 

I have never been so mad in all my life. I was shaking. I turned my back to her and didn't say another word. I was afraid if I said anything I would just go OFF!

 

When we got to the car, I explained to the children that the lady was very ignorant. I made sure to tell them that they are very bright and can be anything they want to be when they grow up.

 

I'm still UPSET about it. Just unbelievable to me. And I'm upset that I'm letting her get to me. I should just blow it off but it was just really rude.

 

I've had people question our choice to home school. I've gotten the "oh" look but never in all my five years of homeschooling have I ever had a person be that rude in public and in front of my children!

 

Vent over.

 

Daisy, Sorry to hear that! That was just plain insensitive. This is one reason why I don't venture out much anymore during "school hours". My dd is on the shorter/smaller side so I could get away with it up to age 8, looking like just a taller 1st grader, but now she'll turn 11 and is almost my height. That would have bothered me Daisy. It's one thing for a person to have an opinion, but don't subject the child/ren to rude remarks. :grouphug:

Sheryl <><

[Mermaid Mama]

Einstein's 2nd grade teacher said the same thing.

"Nothing good will ever come of him."

Hmmmmm.....wonder what she thinks now?

[StephanieZ]

Little Old Lady + Said Sth Totally Inappropriate = Likely Dementia

 

I'd write it off. She probably, literally, has dementia. You should have heard some of the things my grandma used to say. . . And she LOVED us. . . And she would say things like "Wow, Candace is FAT!" . . . sitting next to Candace at the holiday supper table. Etc Etc Etc. She just lost her internal sensor.

 

If you can think of it that way, it'll make it easier on you and your kids.

 

(And, if it was a young person who said it. . . Just reference my favorite rule of life: "10% of the population is certifiably nuts, 10% of the population is certifiably an @sshole. There is significant overlap in these two populations." (That is my original rule. . . proven true on a daily basis. . . and I am teaching it to my kids. Yes, verbatim, and without the @ sign.)

[i.love.lucy]

I'm not good at coming up with a snappy comeback but I know I would have had to look at her gasp "Are you kidding me???!?!? ARE. YOU. KIDDING? You did NOT just say that in front of my children!!!!":confused::cursing:

 

Then again I might have started to cry cuz I do that too, when I'm mad/hurt.

 

:grouphug: I'm so sorry about that experience!

[Tree House Academy]

In the famous words of Jeff Dunham's puppet "Achmed...the Dead Terrorist" - my response would have been... "I Kiiiiiiillllllll YOU" Right before I lunged forward and ended up getting myself arrested! Oh.my.goodness!

 

http://www.jeffdunham.com/#/achmed

[freetobeme]

i'm sorry! :grouphug:

especially that your children had to hear that. in 12 years, i've never heard anything like that. proud of you for keeping your head and your tongue!

[Colleen in NS]

Daisy, way to go with how you handled it with your kids!!

 

These responses are hilarious.

 

Twice in the past couple of weeks, either I or my children have been asked if they had friends, when the homeschooling topic came up. :lol: Today when my dd was asked (because we were out in the middle of the day), she just giggled and said, "yes" in a tone of politeness but yes-of-course-doesn't-everyone-have-friends? I just laughed to myself from down the aisle of the store.

 

The other incident was when a dental hygiene student about half my age was about to work on me, and we talked a bit about homeschooling my kids and her first questions were, "Do they have friends? Do they play soccer?" To which I later thought, "yeah, of course, that is exactly where you find friends, when you play soccer!" :lol:

[rockermom]

What costco was this? Do you need some of us to go hang out there and wait for her to say something? Some of us are not terribly nice. ;)

 

Oooh! Can I join your gang of homeschool thug-moms? I wanna beat up mean old ladies. :D

 

(... not really.... well, maybe a few...) ;)

[Mrs Mungo]

Oooh! Can I join your gang of homeschool thug-moms? I wanna beat up mean old ladies. :D

 

(... not really.... well, maybe a few...) ;)

 

Absolutely! Of course, I only verbally accost them. ;) I have a black belt in sarcasm.

[LibraryLover]

Absolutely! Of course, I only verbally accost them. ;) I have a black belt in sarcasm.

 

 

Dementia is never a good thing. I can hear her middle aged son now. "Mom, I am going to go to Best Buy next door. When you are done, wait for me outside. Don't go anywhere. Don't talk to anyone. Please, dear god, don't talk to anyone".

Edited February 13, 2010 by LibraryLover

[1bassoon]

This reminds me of a friend who had a similar situation when out running errands with her kids. A 'little old lady' wanted to know why they weren't in school and my friend told her that they were homeschooled. The 'little old lady' then went on to ask all kinds of questions. My friend found herself losing patience with her questions/attitude and when the 'little old lady' asked her, "Well how do you know they are getting good grades?" She replied, "Well of course they are getting good grades!! I'm sleeping with the principal!!"

 

 

OH. MY. WORD.

 

That may be the funniest thing I've ever read. . . . . .:lol:

[jujsky]

Wow, Daisy! Just.....wow.... I'm so sorry that happened -- especially in front of your children like that. I hope they handled it well. You're nice and a Christian. I probably would have told her right in front of my kids & everyone else in the store to kiss my a**!

[Mrs Mungo]

Dementia is never a good thing.

 

Are you suggesting I have dementia? I wouldn't automatically think dementia. I have had far too many similar encounters with people who were too young for dementia.

[LibraryLover]

Are you suggesting I have dementia? I wouldn't automatically think dementia. I have had far too many similar encounters with people who were too young for dementia.

 

 

Lol you are fast. Go back. I added more for clarity's sake.

[Mrs Mungo]

Lol you are fast. Go back. I added more for clarity's sake.

 

I was just messing with you, anyhow. :lol:

[hsm]

Oooh! Can I join your gang of homeschool thug-moms? I wanna beat up mean old ladies. :D

 

(... not really.... well, maybe a few...) ;)

 

 

but all I could think when I read this was:

 

 

"what sad times these are when passing ruffians can 'nee' to old ladies at will"

 

 

seriously though, I don't know what I would have said in this situation. Good for you for modeling maturity and compassion to your kids.

[Mommyfaithe]

What costco was this? Do you need some of us to go hang out there and wait for her to say something? Some of us are not terribly nice. ;)

 

Mrs. Mungo...you crack me up!!!!:lol:

Thanks!

 

Faithe

[LibraryLover]

I was just messing with you, anyhow. :lol:

:D

 

Just in case:

 

Dementia is never a good thing. I can hear her middle aged son now. "Mom, I am going to go to Best Buy next door. When you are done, wait for me outside. Don't go anywhere. Don't talk to anyone. Please, dear god, don't talk to anyone".

[rockermom]

...The lady said, in a horrible sarcastic voice, "What? Are you too smart to go to school?" And I just smiled and said, "Nope, I'm just too smart to send her."

 

I LOVE this reply.

 

I would explain to my children (loudly) that is why it is a bad idea to drink before 4

 

I think you should combine that with the drinking comment.

 

"Well, bless your heart!" then turn around to the kids "see, children, this is why drinking before a Costco trip is a BAD IDEA."

 

I can't insert enough of these :lol: here.

 

The other incident was when a dental hygiene student about half my age was about to work on me, and we talked a bit about homeschooling my kids and her first questions were, "Do they have friends? Do they play soccer?" To which I later thought, "yeah, of course, that is exactly where you find friends, when you play soccer!" :lol:

 

I blame my mother.. she wouldn't let me play soccer and that's why I had no friends. Perhaps I should play soccer now so that I can find a few.

 

but all I could think when I read this was:

 

 

"what sad times these are when passing ruffians can 'nee' to old ladies at will"

 

:lol::001_smile:

 

(I know, I know, Gretchen... I'll never get my post-count up if I continue to multi-quote.)

[IsabelC]

Have you complained to the manager? Regardless of this person's beliefs about home schooling, it is unacceptable to tell a customer her children won't amount to anything.

[ConnieB]

You know after wards I thought up all kinds of great retorts. :D

 

But really I was busy trying to keep my anger under control. I felt myself physically shaking. I was spending all my time reminding myself that she was just ignorant, she's an old lady, she's had a bad day, whatever.

 

If I had said something back, I think she was the type to just have felt justified in her condemnation.

 

But it helps later to think of all the things I would have liked to have said. LOL. :lol:

 

 

And you should be PROUD of yourself for keeping your cool....THAT was the better lesson to teach your children. Can you imagine how awful you'd be feeling right now if you had gone off on the lady in front of your children.....would have made your actions as poor as hers!

 

So, what your children learned today is that some people don't have a clue what they're talking about, and are absolutely 100% totally and completely wrong....but, they still deserve a small amount of respect, because being human includes being wrong. And that stooping to their level of behavior makes you no better than they are.

 

You might also discuss the fact that you were very angry at what she said....and whatever you had been feeling, thinking of doing.....but that sometimes you have to control that anger and be the bigger person. Self-control/anger management, whatever today's buzz word for it is, happens to be a behavior that very few people seem to know "now-a-days". Teaching your child about it can only be a positive!

 

Sad reminder in the shootings at the college in Alabama....preliminary news reports makes it sound like it was someone angry at the faculty. The fact that so much anger is spilling out in the form of killing just terrifies me. Teaching our childrent that it's ok to be mad, but also how to channel that anger properly is something a lot of adults need to be retaught...or taught!

[EthiopianFood]

I think you should combine that with the drinking comment.

 

"Well, bless your heart!" then turn around to the kids "see, children, this is why drinking before a Costco trip is a BAD IDEA."

 

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:I HAVE TEARS!!

[Mrs Mungo]

:D

 

Just in case:

 

Dementia is never a good thing. I can hear her middle aged son now. "Mom, I am going to go to Best Buy next door. When you are done, wait for me outside. Don't go anywhere. Don't talk to anyone. Please, dear god, don't talk to anyone".

 

:lol: I'm sure my children will be saying the same, dementia or no. :D

 

Have you complained to the manager? Regardless of this person's beliefs about home schooling, it is unacceptable to tell a customer her children won't amount to anything.

 

This was a fellow customer, not an employee, otherwise I would totally agree. :001_smile:

[TXMary2]

Little Old Lady + Said Sth Totally Inappropriate = Likely Dementia

 

I'd write it off. She probably, literally, has dementia. You should have heard some of the things my grandma used to say. . . And she LOVED us. . . And she would say things like "Wow, Candace is FAT!" . . . sitting next to Candace at the holiday supper table. Etc Etc Etc. She just lost her internal sensor.

 

If you can think of it that way, it'll make it easier on you and your kids.

 

(And, if it was a young person who said it. . . Just reference my favorite rule of life: "10% of the population is certifiably nuts, 10% of the population is certifiably an @sshole. There is significant overlap in these two populations." (That is my original rule. . . proven true on a daily basis. . . and I am teaching it to my kids. Yes, verbatim, and without the @ sign.)

 

Haha....this reminds me of my husbands dear late Great-Grandmother. She was 98 ......one Thanksgiving she looked across the table at my sister-in-law and said, "Shovel it in honey!" I almost choked trying not to laugh. She used to beg us to buy her Whiskey all the time. :lol:

[Nakia]

I LOVE this reply.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't insert enough of these :lol: here.

 

 

 

I blame my mother.. she wouldn't let me play soccer and that's why I had no friends. Perhaps I should play soccer now so that I can find a few.

 

 

 

:lol::001_smile:

 

(I know, I know, Gretchen... I'll never get my post-count up if I continue to multi-quote.)

 

Thanks, Rockermom! I have been blessed with a quick and sarcastic tongue. :D

[EthiopianFood]

Are you suggesting I have dementia? I wouldn't automatically think dementia. I have had far too many similar encounters with people who were too young for dementia.

 

People that have dementia don't know they have it, bless your heart! :D

[Mrs Mungo]

People that have dementia don't know they have it, bless your heart! :D

 

:lol: I think I just have a defective brain filter.

[Red]

Sorry your children had to hear that. I think you did great handling it.

 

I do think there might be something to the Walmart theory mentioned earlier in the thread. Was at one last week and not in Florida. Had all my kids with me and we just left our enrichment day. It was just before 2. Cashier asked if I had the kids out of school so they could help carry the groceries into the house and then was I taking them back for the rest of the school day? My 6 children just burst into laughter right there.

[Mandy in TN]

Haven't read the giant thread.

 

(((hugs)))

BIG MEANIE WITCH OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T FOLLOW YOUR BLOG!!! OTHERWISE SHE WOULD BE BEGGING YOU TO SCHOOL HER GRANDKIDS.

 

so there!

that's all-

Mandy

[Daisy]

Haven't read the giant thread.

 

(((hugs)))

BIG MEANIE WITCH OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T FOLLOW YOUR BLOG!!! OTHERWISE SHE WOULD BE BEGGING YOU TO SCHOOL HER GRANDKIDS.

 

so there!

that's all-

Mandy

 

Or maybe she read about the day my son completely humiliated me at the doctor's office. Oops, maybe her daughter was the doctor. Wow, that would explain a lot. :D

[Sandy in Indy]

Wow. Just, wow. Some people have no sense whatsoever. You deserve a medal for the day. I probably would have sent my kids to the snack area to wait for me while I chewed her ear off...after the trip to the dentist to fix my jaw which would have broken from dropping to the floor.

 

What a terribly rude thing for someone to say!

[Ibbygirl]

never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

 

:hurray: That has to be one of the most awesome things I've ever read! :)

[JWSJ]

I would have used a Jedi mind trick on her to not think these are the kids she is looking for.

 

Then she'd have something to talk about back at home.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Wow, is this a hive of angry bees or what?!;)

[Lizzie in Ma]

Oh, Daisy. :grouphug: I know you are just as nice as you can be and thank God it was you she insulted. I think many of us would have been that next homeschooling family in the news. "Homeschooling family assaults woman at Costco", I can see it now.

 

Your patience in light of such ignorance will go a long way as a life lesson for your dc. :grouphug:

 

:iagree::iagree:

Bless you I could never had held my tongue. :grouphug::grouphug:

[TXMomof4]

In the famous words of Jeff Dunham's puppet "Achmed...the Dead Terrorist" - my response would have been... "I Kiiiiiiillllllll YOU" Right before I lunged forward and ended up getting myself arrested! Oh.my.goodness!

 

http://www.jeffdunham.com/#/achmed

 

 

My favorite -

 

Knock, Knock!

 

Who's there?

 

Me. I kill you!!!

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I can just see about half a dozen of us surrounding her, holding our big, thick copies of WTM.

"You want we should whack her boss?"

 

LOL! I don't think SWB planned the thickness of her books, so we can whack little old ladies with them ;-)

 

Well, I hope she didn't.

[lionfamily1999]

I would have used a Jedi mind trick on her to not think these are the kids she is looking for.

 

Then she'd have something to talk about back at home.

 

My favorite -

 

Knock, Knock!

 

Who's there?

 

Me. I kill you!!!

I will remember these for later use. I mean, they already think I'm crazy, what's the harm in removing all doubt? :lol:

 

I'd far rather have a gang with their copies of TWTM in hand... oh the sheer idea... how much fun would that be?!? Has anyone made the "Homeschooling Nazi; NO BOOKS FOR YOU" shirts yet?