Another crazy bus lady

[goodasgold]

I got on the bus with dd2 and ds3 yesterday. I took dd out of their double puschair to sit next to me, whilst ds slept in the pushchair.

Dd gets excited and starts to say/shout hello to every car and motorbike and ask me questions about where the bus is going. She is 2 and 4 months.

The 70 year old lady across the aisle asks me if dd can be a bit quieter, so I ask dd to hush, but don't really bollock her. After about 5-10 mins the old lady says 'look I've asked you once, can you make her quiet, I was on the bus first it was peaceful until you got on with your pushchair the size of a ...'

At this point the lady who works in the bakery in the village I live in said 'shes too little to make quiet' and the old lady said 'she was old enough for a smack and that she would grow up to have children outside of marriage and seek consolation in drink and drugs'

I put a brave face on it, but when I got off the bus I cried.

My dh said that I should have said something back, but what?

Not really asking wibu, just what would you do?

If you can be bothered to read so much, cheers!

[lizandlulu]

i dont know for sure what i would do but most likely go bright red and swear at her cause i couldnt think of anything quicker.

what a horrible old lady.

dh would have said something aong the lines of 'i have paid my fare to be on this bus the same as you so piss off'

i hope you are feeling better, things like this make me feel awful for days.

[LuckySalem]

Ditto thehedgewitch

[TigerFeet]

I would hope I would have been quick enough to retort along the lines of "Well she won't grow up to be a rude old bat"

But I tend not to be that quick on my feet

[PinkTulips]

i'd probably have ranted something along the lines off....

'she's a child and i will not beat my child into submission just because an old bat like you thinks they have a right to total silence in a public space.

i hope you've just become a cranky old witch in your old age and you didn't really treat you own children so nastily because if you did i seriously pity them and their miserable childhoods.

now sod off and stop harassing me and my child before i ask the bus driver to boot you off the bus for abusing the other passengers'

but then i frequently get in trouble for shooting my mouth of so maybe your way was better in the long run

[kittywise]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!
I bet you have come up with a huge number of stinging one-liners by now.
What a miserable old woman.
It would have been good to say something along the lines of tigerfeet's idea." Well if she doesn't grow up to be as rude as you then I'll be happy"!!

[Desiderata]

Nasty old ladies goad people because they want someone to tell them to shut the fuck up.

They miss their husbands, you see?

[dilemma456]

Message withdrawn

[Sim43]

Bloody old bitch. . Kids who talk like that in public places always make me smile, I love hearing the random stuff they come out with. Horrible old witch.

[goodasgold]

I have come across this lady before, when my ds was about 5 weeks and he was crying in the local Co-op and she said 'screaming brats, my son used to cry all the time, I hit him so much, but I suppose they like it now' and another time when my dd said/shouted 'hello' to her when she got on the bus and she said 'screaming brats' I really think she's got it in for me, and I'm rather a quiet person, who tries to teach by example, so it's not my style to say anything back, but I think she knows this, so I would like to say something, so she will leave me and my poor dc alone.

[minouminou]

I would've said "I don't think you're very well, are you?" in a rather high-handed tone
nasty piece of work

[litterbug]

PMSL @ desi!

[totalmisfit]

bonkers old dinosour. forget all about her

[Sim43]

She has a fucking screw loose by the sounds of it.

[lottiejenkins]

When my ds was small he had a paddy and threw himself down on the floor of the supermarket, an old lady came up to me and said "thats young man needs a good smack on the backside" to which i replied "and you old lady need to learn to mind your own business because you dont know anything about my son do you?" i left her mouthing like a goldfish!!!

[goodasgold]

Thank you all for you posts, I thought maybe I was being unreasonable for having such an exuberant dd, who really at this age I could tell her to be quiet nth times, but I would be wasting my breath.

[CapnTaLcY]

lol desi!

Having been a victim of 'elderly people on bus abuse', just a few weeks ago, goodasgold,
i share your pain.

If you're anything like me, you'll be thinking of 'if only i'd said' retorts for the next few days.

Horrid old bat.

[ScottishMummy]

oh dear biddies on buses.i use bus a lot, and unfortunately get inane comments or tuts too

i just practice looking serene whilst i silently fume

she sounds horrid, rankly a curious 2yo should be able to express themselves and ask questions without wee biddie getting humphy.

shame she was so rude to you

you did the right thing best ignored.who needs confrontation when you have a lo too much hassle

[mistlethrush]

Ds and I have had very animated conversations on the bus - and sung songs (relatively quietly I must admit ). You were quite OK - no one minds a child who is talking happily with their parent on a bus - its the ones that are jumping up and down on the seats or running up and down the bus that people are probably rightly concerned about as they are likely to get hurt...

[NumberJill]

"DID YOUR NURSE GET YOUR DOSE WRONG TODAY, DEAR? SHALL I RING THEM FOR YOU?"

Delivered with hand gestures and VERY piercing tone.

[posieflump]

tbh the best thing to do is bite your tongue, sa nothing and therefore keep the moral high ground

[Sim43]

Or bite the old lady instead! Grr!

[WigWamBam]

I always used to look down my nose and say "My daughter is being revolting because she's two years old. What's your excuse?"

Shut them up every time ...

[lenny101]

Sorry you were made to feel bad goodasgold. I'd have smiled at you both and congratulated you on an interested and interesting dd. x

An old man told me my ds2 (1.1) should be quiet in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago. My lovely boy has just found the joys of squealing in an echoing store.. great sound I think

[goodasgold]

lenny, I think my dd liked the audience! A lot of people say how articulate she is, but now I'm thinking do they mean that in a backhanded way ie gobshite.

We just love her chatter.

I didn't want to get the bus today, I couldn't face it again. But I feel like I could do with a confrontation with the said old lady, to explain to her my methods, and make her leave me alone in future.