Rude people or Well-intentioned clods (?)
Sheena L Carter (scart01@emory.edu)
Thu, 21 Mar 1996 18:53:50 -0500 (EST)
Ms. Faullin, et. al.,
You all are, of course, "preaching to the choir". But, if you
could give some positive suggestions to people who would like to "say the
right thing", maybe we could all help spread the word. Yours is an
experience most people have never even encountered, much less gone
through. What would you have like to have heard... from
friends?/family?/strangers?
By the way, in my part of the world, it is
considered polite social behavior to smile and say "oh what a cute baby"
when encountering a parent with a little one on an elevator. Your body
language would seem to be cue enough that you would wish to preclude such
an encounter, and I would think anyone who violated this wish would
deserve a brisk rebuff. Your suggestion seems very appropriate and I
would expect most people would find it a successful approach.
On Thu, 21 Mar 1996, Cynthia Faullin wrote:
> ... As far as I was concerned (and still
> am) it is nobody's business. I didn't take him out anywhere without
> covering the car-seat with a blanket. I wouldn't get on elevators with
> other people or if I had to, I would turn the car-seat away from their eyes.
> Things like that. I went out of my way to avoid contact with people. When
> contact was unavoidable I would respond to comments and questions with one
> word answers that had the tone of "no further enquiries, thank you". When I
> had to take him out in public, I would enter the building or room with my
> head high and an expression on my face that read "I'm in a hurry. I mean
> business. Don't mess with me or my kid." This seemed to work quite well.
>