This is the most disgraceful behaviour I have ever seen

[pne]

this is really what some parents have degraded to folks, you'd better believe it! To think there are some people who would sue another adult for something minor like tapping their children, or approaching their children, offering them candy, etc. Same reason that grown men aren't allowed to stand beside playgrounds, etc. Society is just too paranoid, and I blame the media. they've been spreading this "terror" and fear to parents.

just yesterday I was at the mall walking around, I thought I had something on my face, so I walked up to a mirrored column to find a reflection. Well as I'm walking over this little kid about 5-6 pushes past me (literally) and runs over to the column. I shrug to myself and walk up to the mirror beside him and proceed to inspect myself/clearly not paying attention to him. Then all of a sudden I hear his mother screaming at him to come back to her, she was sitting not 15 feet away watching the whole thing. The worst part was I had to turn around, walk past her, to meet my gf at the store. She gave me one of the dirtiest glares ever, like I was some sort of sexual predator after her kid. I mean come on! I'm an 18yr asian teenager, probably the most unthreatening looking person ever! I was shocked she'd actually think that about me.

 

[Gigabomber]

No one touches me without permission. That being said, a state of emergency doesn't ensue when someone does.

This all reminds me of a story in the paper about two kids and two parents.
Apparently there were two guys from the military loving next door to the family and they heard screaming and fighting out in and on the grass of the house next door so they got up and dashed outside.
These kids were beating the crap out of their parents so they intervened and roughly grabbed the kids and held them down.
To their surprise the parents started screaming and yelling at them through their busted faces, like any good cops episode.
Sounds like a bit of a spun story, but weirder things have happened.

Oh regarding what you said pne: because of how crazy things have gotten, I and some other folks i know will not stay alone with anyone under 18 except for in emergencies because nothing is worth being charged as a sex offender. I saw this the other day as well when we were traveling and another fifteen foot situation like you described happened.
Gotta keep one thing in mind though, if they let their kid walk over alone and don't call them back they are called negligent parents and if they do they are called over-protective or paranoid.
Some of these attitudes are clearly put forth from the media telling everyone what is right or wrong. Interestingly enough, a single news story about one bum who is a professional that makes 60k a year or one parent who left their kid for ten seconds and the kid got kidnapped seems to affect the country's decisions on a dramatic level.
Reference the old thread about picking up hitch hikers for your reading pleasure. Whoever said being a man was easy.
I think these ideas are linked to folks being afraid of things which are out of their control.

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIKEp [snip] discraceful [/snip]

I know it's only the internet, and I know I'm going to probably get flamed for saying this, but...

The only disgraceful thing I see in this thread is the repeated use of discraceful by a 16 year old, unless this is some Canadian English I don't know about.

 

[viator122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by en480c4 I know it's only the internet, and I know I'm going to probably get flamed for saying this, but... The only disgraceful thing I see in this thread is the repeated use of discraceful by a 16 year old, unless this is some Canadian English I don't know about.

You asked for a flame, here it is: the only thing worse is when people use adjectives like "disgraceful" liberally and without regard to their meaning, even if they can spell it properly.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 You asked for a flame, here it is: the only thing worse is when people use adjectives like "disgraceful" liberally and without regard to their meaning, even if they can spell it properly.

Well hold on -- he's got a point.

A few parents were bitching in a bowling alley at a teenager's birthday party. Doesn't sound that horrible to me. Doesn't sound like disgrace - it sounds like idiocy.

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 You asked for a flame, here it is: the only thing worse is when people use adjectives like "disgraceful" liberally and without regard to their meaning, even if they can spell it properly.

disgraceful
IMO it's a damn shame that a 16 year old can't spell a simple and fairly common word... And look at that, shameful is even a listed synonym.

Was my response a little over the top? Yes, but so is describing a minor confrontation, in a bowling alley of all places, as the most disgraceful behavior ever seen.

 

[MIKEp]

whatever .. i guess this is what i get for so many years using spell check. but really do u think u could hound me anymore for this. I was gonna check the spelling but it slipped my mind

 

[azncookiecutter]

Not being racist or anything, but what race was the parents/kids from? I find that minorities, especially Asians, teach their kids to be polite and have proper manners and behaviour outside, more so than Caucasians. My observations.....

 

[Gigabomber]

theres plenty of fifty year olds that can't read. Take it easy, damn.

 

[averydonovan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wali The grandma had no business tapping a 5-yr-old on the back, period. It is absolutely rude to tap someone and get their attention, and its a taboo when kids are involved, especially as young as 5-yr-olds. what was she thinking, reason with 5 year-olds? The smart choice would have been to talk with their parents, and nicely.

She was assuming the 5-year-old had some mediocum of reasoning. There is nothing wrong with what she did by treating him as an intelligent person. When I was 5 I was expected to listen to other adults and my parents had no issue if an adult would ask me to step aside or something else if I was in the way even if it meant tapping me on the shoulder. It was part of learning how to deal with the real world. And given how the situation played out, the 5-year-old obviously had more intelligence than his parents.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman Remember, there is a LAW in the USA that says that a mother of a child may do ANYTHING - even if it's against the law - to protect and save her child from any danger.

What?! What law is that?

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs What?! What law is that?

Yeah, I have serious qualms about that 'statement of fact' which you quoted. What about the father? Is he not an equal guardian? I seriously doubt that is true.

 

[The_Mac]

I don't know what impression we Canadians are giving that there's some absurd need for personal space, but I've never seen anyone get uppity because I invaded their space.

I've been to bars, concerts, parties, and just on the street, and if I need someone's attention, a tap works, and if I need to get by, a light pressure on their side/back works equally well to move them.

I don't know what the big deal is, it's not like I walked up to you and punched you, it was just a tap/press.

Nutty.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-EJ915 Yeah, I have serious qualms about that 'statement of fact' which you quoted. What about the father? Is he not an equal guardian? I seriously doubt that is true.

It's true. Absurd, yes, but true.

A popular example of this is a case with a very religious Muslim mother who is unable to enter a swimming pool because her religion says that she must keep on her heavy clothing on at all times, and the pool club rules are that they cannot be dressed like such, so the woman never became a member. Her children are allowed to enter the swimming pool, however, as long as the mother is watching from outside of the pool area - but for the safety of those who are using the pool, people dressed as such are unable to enter the area. One of her children then began to have trouble swimming, and was drowning. She broke a private entrance, and even assaulted a lifegaurd, in order to save her child. When the lifeguard tried attempted to rescue the child, she jumped in the pool, and pushed his head under the water. Because of the enormous amount of heavy clothing the woman was wearing, the lifeguard had a difficult time resurfacing himself, and nearly drowned himself! The child was rescued by his mother, however, and everything was okay -- until the lifeguard's family AND the pool club filed a lawsuit against the woman.

The woman won both cases because she was protecting her child. The law clearly says that a woman is able to do anything if it directly helps in the protection of her child.

Absurd, right?

A man is not able to do the same thing. Even if he is rightly married to the woman, only she is able to have this advantage.

 

[joca]

In a loudy environment the wisest choice would be tapping the kid's shoulder... I see no problem with that. In my country that isn't a problem at all.