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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Dentist in tesco tackled me

345 replies

Spiceb · 08/06/2019 06:23

Shopping with 3 year old yesterday. Stopped by the raisins. Old woman came up to me and said "excuse me but please don't buy them. They are terribly bad for teeth" I must have looked incredulous because her husband stepped in to say she was a dentist

Aibu to think go away and let me shop in peace? I'm a sensible grown adult who can make choices

OP posts:
Greyhound22 · 08/06/2019 06:26

YANBU I probably would have bundled the whole shelf of raisins into the trolley whilst glaring at her.

Some people are beyond patronising.

Reallybadidea · 08/06/2019 06:27

What was in her trolley?

RiversDisguise · 08/06/2019 06:28

I would start shrieking that I had been attacked by a grapist.

YouJustDoYou · 08/06/2019 06:33

I would've maintained eye contact whilst sweeping the whole lot it. I was swimming with my little boy once when the elderly swimming instructor (off duty, so didn't know then she worked there) came up to me and scolded me for swimming too close to him and holding his hand whilst he was on the pool steps. He was 15 months old. I just looked at her and said ok then and ignored what she'd said, so then she hesitated and tried to tell me again I needed to leave him on the steps and give him further space. I said no he's fine as he is. The little guy just liked walking up and down in the water holding my hand. Next week, I saw her in there teaching a class and she allowed a little boy to swim head first straight into the side of the pool. Poor kid was crying his eyes out, he must've been 3 at most. These people shouldn't stick their oar in where it's not asked for.

Saucery · 08/06/2019 06:33

How is her age relevant?

dudsville · 08/06/2019 06:34

What people need is more people stepping up to tell us what to do. Surely. Our shopping carts should be monitored by dentists and gps, obvs. Our shopping habits should be managed by our banks. Our relationship/dating habits should be managed by psychologists. What else am I missing?!

hellodarkness · 08/06/2019 06:34

It is such an odd thing to do, to approach someone with unsolicited dietary advice, that I'd assume she was ill. Don't give it another thought.

Original poster
Spiceb · 08/06/2019 06:34

😂😂😂😂😂 Thanks. You've all made me feel better! Shed have been more gutted once we'd reached the haribo section..

OP posts:
Absolutepowercorrupts · 08/06/2019 06:37

I expect she has dementia, you know, because she's old. Old women and their still employed husbands quite often accost mothers to warn them about the dangers of raisins.

PenelopeFlintstone · 08/06/2019 06:41

That would be so annoying! I've long been meaning to post a thread about why I find it so annoying when people online say Please don't do this, or Please don't do that. Please don't burn your old school uniforms, Please don't buy your children sweets, Please don't shout at your cat. I can't think of all the examples now but they make my lip curl when I read them.

swingofthings · 08/06/2019 06:42

I would have asked her if she knew of the health benefits of Resveratrol found in grapes and when her face drew a blank would have told her that I was a doctor and she might want to educate herself before approaching strangers telling them what to do!

BlueJava · 08/06/2019 06:44

You were buying raisins? OMG, the absolute worst you can buy. I mean I'd take Haribos, Sherbert Dib Dabs and a 12 pack of cola over raisins any day! [lightheared in case someone is about to get excited!]

Barbarafromblackpool · 08/06/2019 06:46

Annoying

GeorgeTheBleeder · 08/06/2019 06:54

‘Old woman’; ‘elderly (female) swimming instructor’ ...

Aren’t people over - what - 40? 45? allowed to express opinions in a public place?

Although ... Given that yesterday I read here that I’m supposed to be embarrassed at having a more than 50 year old body - I really shouldn’t be surprised.

Saucery · 08/06/2019 06:57

What are you doing on this thread having an opinion , George ? Hmm At your age.

Amibeingdaft81 · 08/06/2019 06:58

I would have swept every last pack of raisins in to my trolley.

I then would have opened a little box with a flourish, handed it to my child. Then I would have opened one for myself, and emptied the contents in to my mouth.

Smiled sweetly at her (hoping some remnants of raisins were stuck in my teeth) and moved on

SpiderPlant38 · 08/06/2019 07:02

Really? The fact that someone with years of experience seing the damage done to kids' teeth says something mildly is what you take out of that??

No interest in whether she might be right? No asking on here whether there is a better option for 3 year-olds' snacking? Just outrage and ridicule for her.

I'm sure you don't give your child raisins, (or sweets and fizzy drinks), all the time so you won't know the sadness of a teen with a mouthful of fillings but no need to be rude about a well-meant, (if misguided), comment.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 08/06/2019 07:04

This wouldn't have offended me. People often get a bee in their bonnet about specific aspects of their job. Numerous dentists over the years have given me the raisins and fruit juice lecture and the thing is, they are right. I think it's hard to see people doing things that you know will harm them and just ignore it, especially when people buying raisins for their dc are often doing so because they think it better than buying haribo. Teeth can't tell the difference.
I think I would have said they are an occasional treat and left it at that - she meant well.

TapasForTwo · 08/06/2019 07:05

Ageism is clearly rife on here again Hmm

This woman (regardless of her age) had no right to tell you what not to buy. But she is correct that raisins are really bad for the teeth. A dentist told my friend that, but it was at a dental appointment.

Batfurger · 08/06/2019 07:08

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Bossinger · 08/06/2019 07:11

She was only telling the tooth truth.

ButtercupGirI · 08/06/2019 07:12

Can't we even use the words "old", "young", "middle aged" to describe someone these days? I can't see OP's post discriminating this old couple because of their age.

A young man came to my office for work experience, he was very nosy (keen to learn). Am I discriminating him because he is young?

What happen to our society?

isabellerossignol · 08/06/2019 07:12

The ageism here is terrible. I never see so many sneery comments about old men.

Mind you, I'd be irritated too. I'm not an idiot, I know raisins have sugar in them, surely everyone does?

isabellerossignol · 08/06/2019 07:13

It's not the description of someone as being s certain age. It's the sneery attitude, that they're clueless and old.

FabulouslyFab · 08/06/2019 07:15

My daughter had her tongue pierced and our dentist told her that the saliva in her mouth would dissolve her tongue because of the hole........ 🤦‍♀️
He was male, under 50 😂