Im usually really pleased with the service I get from Barclays and my children have always been welcomed there but today I found myself wanting the punch the woman on the other side of the counter.
I only went in to deposit a cheque and withdraw cash and don't usually do chit chat but she stood up to look at my baby over the counter... this is where the fun starts...
First she said: 'Is that your little girl?' ... to which I replied 'No its my boy' smiling... her reply back 'I can only see blue and cream which can be either' and sat back down.. When i worked in retail when I was just out of school I would always say (if I wanted chit chat about babies) I always said something along the lines of 'Your baby's gorgeous' or 'How old's your baby?' so I didn't get the gender wrong. He's 4 months old too btw, its not as though he's newborn.
She then want on to say 'your first?', my reply 'no he's my second, my eldest will be 3 in October'... her reply 'you don't look old enough to have two kids'... I was livid! I just smiled and said 'Well i'm 24 this Saturday'...to which she repeated.. 'Yeh, you don't look old enough to have two children'. She didn't say it in a 'oh you look young for your age' kind of way, she said it in a 'you shouldn't have two kids at your age, you probably don't know who their fathers are' kind of way. And the way she looked at me... like I was dirt. She went on to tell me that she has ONE son who is 7 years old, he's current at his grandmothers because his dad is a teacher and has had to go into school during the holidays... again said in a snotty way. What I should've said was 'oh well my CHILDREN..yes both of my children have the same father... is an IT consultant for a global company'.
By all means, I think myself I do look younger than 24 but I do not expect professional staff to make such comments, especially when they're said in such a snobbish, rude manner.
AIBU?
AIBU thinking about complaining about a Barclays staff members comments?
manfalou · 22/08/2013 14:26
When my twins were babies, an old man congratulated me on how cute they were said are they two boys my DD was in pink and DS blue, he then went on to tell I shouldn't have anymore yet wait till I was older and go back to college, I was 37 at the time, tbh I felt mildly outraged for about 2 seconds then couldn't wait to tell everyone how young I obviously look
Take it a s a compliment at 24 you should look young, you are young (but of course not too young to have as many kids as you choose)
Is this a Joke? apart from maybe being over sensitive about your age I cant even see what's wrong with the other comments.
So she couldn't tell DS was a boy and didn't tell you he was gorgeous. Please complain. It will give the staff at Barclays a good laugh.
I'm 34 but I look younger and my DS is 17. No one ever believes he's my son. It's flattering and i would never even think to get offended. Although often people are so surprised they ask rude questions like how old am I or how old was I when I had him. I tell them that I was 12 when he was born and was the youngest mother in the North West at the time and in the paper and everything. Their 
faces do not get old.
Someone did think DS was my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago though. *voms. I told my sister and she said "yeah, and you don't even look that young anymore so they were probably just thinking you were a dirty cradle snatching cow."
Crowler I was only kidding!
Just after I had my first aged 23 I was in Morrisons when a nice old lady said I looked too young to have a baby (in a kind way), I was thrilled. Then my 50 year old father joined me and she asked "is this dad then?" 
When I was waddling around the office pregnant with DD2 last year, someone asked if it was my first baby and I said, 'No, second' then she said 'You don't look old enough'. I'm 34. I was delighted.
A few weeks ago I was chatting to a fellow customer in TK Maxx and she was asking me what I thought of various baby blankets etc, she mentioned having an 18 year old and I said she didn't look old enough to have an 18 year old - she beamed and said 'thank you'.
I'm really struggling to find a way to see offence in 'you don't look old enough'... Clearly it's quite a common thing for people to say, so why read into it?
Poor Barclays woman was probably just trying to make the day go quicker by striking up conversation. I used to do the same when I had a dull, repetitive customer-facing job. I hope I didn't offend anyone... I do seem to recall once telling a customer that the dress she was trying on was an old lady dress, and she shouldn't be wearing it cos she wasn't an old lady.... 
The intent of the Barclays cashier would have been clear in her tone of voice and body language, especially the facial expression, not the actual words.
hamdangle - if your sister did not say that in a cheeky, pulling your leg manner then she was nasty, but obviously jealous.
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