Had 2 arguments with strangers in the last week - feeling very down.

[DemoBourbon]

I feel like I can’t keep my mouth shut! Last week I was called a stupid bitch for telling a family with toddlers sitting on knees in the back of the car that it was really irresponsible and dangerous and they shouldn’t be doing it.

Then today made a comment to someone when they made me and DC walk in the road while going through a very narrow tunnel under a railway bridge (she knew we were in the tunnel on a very narrow, single-person-width path, but entered anyway instead of waiting for us to come out).

Just to add, any comment I made was not in a raised voice and not in an angry manner.

Do other people just not say anything in these situations? I wish I could sail through life obliviously.

I've just been and got HRT after screaming at a stranger in the street, havng a very short fuse with the teens, and then actually screaming down the phone at a scam caller....DH said in a very calm voice "you are behaving very oddly, is everything ok" ....

I feel MUCH better now on HRT.

Its hard to bite your tongue sometimes, but you do have to learn to, unless you really want a world where everyone just shouts at each other when theyre annoyed. Would you like to be told off by strangers, or do you think you never do things to annoy?

I’m not sure where the shouting bit came from, I definitely didn’t shout at either of them and I hope that I always act in as considerate a way as possible.

Think I need to ring the doctor to see about this.

Op it’s not just you! I can’t keep my mouth shut either. Especially when I see people texting while driving.

Fair enough - that's dangerous - but what exactly do you do about it?

No point in speaking your mind unless there is some hope it will result in positive change. If there is no hope it will change things then you are just sounding off/showing off/being a bully/enjoying the sound of your own voice. No parent ever has responded positively to being told off by a random in a public place in front of the children. If you had really cared about the children you could have spoken to the parents quietly or even reported them, but it reads like you were just looking for a fight.

Calling me honeybuns doesn’t help your cause, it’s just rude which is how you come across in here and no doubt in real life.

What is it you expect the HT to do? Think about it. She has no more authority over traffic issues than you do.

Do you think you are the first person unhappy about congestion around schools? Do you genuinely believe your behaviour has made a positive difference?

People like you, bad tempered and entitled, are a dime a dozen. If you genuinely care for safety around schools, use process to address it. Much more effective than ranting at strangers, over-subscribed school staff and forum users.

I’m not surprised you have a reputation already. The HT will be sighing every time she sees you coming.

tramp I make a stabbing assessment too. I call people out for littering and spitting.
I'm always in trainers I can run in though, just in case I make a bad choice.

Got called a "sarky cow " quite loudly in a shop after commenting..." yeah that's a good idea then....!" To my daughter about a 3 year year walking around a shop eating an ice cream.... just before she spilt it all over the floor and up my leg.
Just to add, have worked in retail for years, cleaning up after people who think this is OK....
Think its my age now 🤔

why did y9u get of pavement and not let the other person take that risk?

Id just stop and wait

like spitting in the street

it spreads TB doesn't it?

Watch the film "Friends with Money" - Frances McDormand is amazing in it. I'm the same age as you OP and definitely found myself sympathising with her character in the film.

I personally think it's just mainly to do with women reaching the height of their "no-bullshit" barometer once they reach 40-ish. I genuinely don't give a shit what people think of me any more and call out rude behaviour when I see it. The telling the parents off incident I wouldn't have done - they are clearly hard of thinking and nothing will be gained from it. I'd have stood still in the tunnel as other pp's have said and regularly do this in the park when entitled dog owners expect me to jump into a bush to accommodate their dogs who are on leads stretching right across the path - I just stand there forcing them to pull their dog around me - petty maybe but it discreetly makes my point.

I'm totally fucked off with Karen's thinking they have the right to stick their oar in and tell people off.

Every one is an expert these days and feel their opinion needs voiced and they have the right to tell others off. They don't.
Lockdown really opened my eyes to this. I saw people told off for wearing masks, people told off for not wearing them .. you name it and there was telling off galore.

I'm actually quiet as a mouse but really enjoyed getting the courage up to tell someone in Tesco carpark to go away and mind their own business and how or where I park in Tesco is nothing to do with them. And it's gave me the courage if I'm ever told off again by a busybody I'll repeat that it's none of their business.

And by the way menopause is NO excuse to go round telling people off.

I used to be like this but over the last few years I’ve come to the conclusion that arseholes who behave like twats aren’t going to alter their behaviour and say ‘you’re right Chen, upon reflection I have been a twat and I shall alter my behaviour accordingly’. Now I’m afraid I just ignore them and move on - my peri menopausal rage seems to have been replaced by my peri menopausal not GAF and I just don’t care anymore. You want to kill yourself and your family in a car accident? Go right ahead.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t have stepped onto the road with my DC and that I would have stopped and stood still, but who knows - often you get caught off-guard.

Karen’s? At the risk of sounding like I’m telling you off, come on

Alliswells

How old are you? Coz you sound about 12.

And I would never give one ounce of a shit about the opinion of someone who used the term "Karen". It's fine to dislike busybodies - I do too but using misogynistic slurs such as "Karen" just make you sound a bit dim. Go educate yourself.

Fair enough maybe that's a bit harsh but I am really sick of people thinking they are entitled and right to tell others off.

See what I mean? Really no need for you to insult me and tell me off. There are other ways you can let me know you don't agree.

Do you do this all the time or just certain times of the month? When I'm pre-menstrual I can be so snappy and easily angered and have also had altercations with strangers. As soon as I'm on my period/it's over the mist lifts and I can't really understand what I get so stressed about 🤣

It’s not really harsh, it’s just a horrible misogynistic term designed to tell women (esp those of a certain age) that they should simply stfu.

Btw - where had you parked that someone thought to say something?!

I am the tellee if such a word I am the one that gets told off. It’s not a day out unless someone has ticked me off. Often unwarranted !

No, hardly ever get that aggravated by people but over the last few weeks there have been a few instances where I just can’t understand why people would act the way they have (mainly safety related). I’ve managed not to comment apart from the 2 this week.

I do get PMT but not usually to this level

What are you doing to get told off so much?

OP I think sometimes you have to pick your battles. If you say something to someone who is doing something you do not like for obvious reasons, you have to be prepared for a response. That response may offend you, but at the end of the day was your action worthwhile?

I have challenged people for encouraging dogs to chase birds in my local park and have been threatened by men who have frightened me but I will do it again despite being disturbed and upset for a long time afterwards.