To have asked a 4 year old and 2 year old to let me sit down in the Doctors pharmacy?

[CandyLoo]

At a small, tightly packed, busy pharmacy opposite Doctors surgery.
3 chairs (barely any standing room).
A lady, and the 2 children taking up the 3 chairs.
2 children not ill, in there with their Mum collecting a prescription.
No free chairs, I asked if I could sit in one of the chairs.
Mum moved one of her children, the other moved to stand with her sister.
Mutterings from the lady next to me, and when she left, said rather pointedly to the child, 'Here you are love, sit in my seat'. They left soon after.
By this stage, the pharmacy was very busy, I have no qualms giving up my seat to anyone older than me or simply if anyone needs it.
AIBU? The lady sitting next to me obviously thought I was, rude comments about me to her husband when she was outside.

Of course it's not less nice. They get the reward of having done a nice thing for someone else. People are usually grateful when a child moves for them.

Is this still raging ? Blimey.

I'm sure a 2 year old is really interested in that. I am sure the mother will be full of pride her child is now stood up and probably getting restless waiting and wanting to explore rather than being sat quietly on a chair.

But that's fine, a fit and healthy adult gets to sit down so nothing else matters!

yes, obviously if they can sit on your lap they should do so. That's entirely different though from expecting them to stand just so a healthy adult can take their seat.

of course everyone (adult or child ) should say please / thank you/ eat with their mouth closed. Its not logical to compare that with the rather bizarre situation where a child is expected to give up their seat and stand just so a healthy adult who arrived later can take their place. I actually think the one with 'bad manners' is any (healthy) adult which such a sense of entitlement that they expect this should happen.

tiredfeet - not every language has please and thank you. So of course not every child is going to say it. In fact ds1 has only just started to sign please now as a teenager because he didn't have enough communication for us to move onto manners until now (they serve no communicative purpose and if you teach 'please' = item given to you, then how do you learn the words for sweet/apple/toy etc). In other countries you can eat how you like and chew your food openly, you can spit on the floor.

Keep your child seated. Some will think you're rude. :shrugs:

Anyway who would you rather have been behind in the eye hospital queue (it was a 15/20 minutes wait iirc that day). Me, or the person protecting their child's right to the seat?

I bet that 2 year old had a real warm glow there!

It would be irrelevant to me as a heathly person I would not take your seats even of offered.

saintly my point was that 'please/ thank you' etc are expected equally of adults and children.

oh ffs Its just nice to be nice, its kindness, its nice, its good manners, its polite (in our society), Show people you care, show consideration.
Thats all! Tis just nice!

Will no one think of the children?

:) I am Fanjo, its a lesson in niceness & good manners to mke them a nicer person & good exercise...1 od my dc has two healthy legs, he can damn well stand on them

I will fanjo :)

The OP didn't know the children weren't ill until after she asked them to move, unless they all stayed where they were even after the pharmacist said the mothers repeat prescription was ready and even though the pharmacist said that it didn't mean that they weren't ill too.

As the mother was standing I assume there was a reason the children were sat on the seats and the mother wasn't.

At 4 and 2 (which is only the OPs guess at age) I wouldn't expect the children to offer their seats necessarily and definitely not to me... I'd take it as they thought I looked old if they did :o

mymate If your dc has healthy legs and has to stand why do you not apply that to your own healthy legs and stand up to!

i did as a child, now as an adult i get the seat! But of course would offer mine to someone more deserving

Why now because your an adult? And why just because you did something once a long time ago means others have to to? People used that same point your making to justify slavery. What makes you more important and worthy then a child?

at slavery. Yes that's a good comparison.

You'll be saying please and thank you is interfering with free speech next.

I teach my children to stand to wait for people to come through doors first etc. not because they are children because it is courteous for people to do it for each other. I am 36 and have children of a similar age to the ones mentioned by the op. I would of course move my children from seats if someone needed them e.g elderly or if one of them could sit on my knee to free up a seat, but the notion they they should let you sit down because they are children is ridiculous. Maybe 40 years ago but not now. I was very surprised when op said she was 38! Was expecting someone much older!

Do you disagree jimjams that a certain type of people felt slavery was fine and why did it need to change? Maybe you need to find a BNP forum?

Slavery is completely ridiculous comparison. Of course making my children sit on my knee or stand so an adult can sit down is as oppressive as slavery and requires the same social change to outlaw. Yes I fully see the similarities

I'm not sure that the BNP (vile though they are) have ever had much to do with slavery

Brandy has been banging on about the OP being the equivalent of an organised lynch mob for at least a couple of days now.

Ok I will talk you through my point.

Slavery was once accepted, now it is not. Some people did not want to change the way things were because after all it was fine for them why was it not fine for every body else. They liked having power over others and having them sit at the back of the bus/not be able to rent a house/get a job. If we had all felt the same way (that it was fine for me then so why not now) who knows where we would be today....

In England children are still not given the same human rights as adults, it's illegal to hit an adult but it's not illegal to hit a child. Little things like making children give up their seats for no other reason then they should show respect boils down to seeing children as second class citizens.

Comparing slavery to standing up in a shop for a few minutes is ludicrous.

The OP wanted them to stand to show deference and respect (in her own words). That is ludicrous.

Like Black people had to show deference and respect to white people just because.