To ask what's the rudest thing a stranger has done to you?

[YoungScrappyHungry]

Inspired by the lovely thread about kindest thing strangers have done for you, and also a chance for me to share this horror.

When I was 19, I worked on the tills at a supermarket in my holidays from university.

A woman I was serving was staring at me, trying to get my attention as I scanned her stuff. I looked up at her and smiled. She said, in still the most condescending tone I've ever heard:

'Don't you wish you'd studied now?'

I was so floored and ashamed, I didn't say a thing back and just carried on scanning her things. Fact was I was actually at university, but even if I hadn't been....aghh!....still gets me.

What are yours?

The people who are condescending to retail staff really wind me up. even if every single person in the UK had a degree, we'd still need staff in Tesco!

@DillonPanthersTexas could the poor man have had a stoma bag? A close family friend does after having most of his bowel removed due to cancer and is mortified when it makes loud noise and smells. His wife, and the rest of us have politely learned to completely ignore it and “not bat an eyelid” as you say his wife did. I’d imagine, given there was no reaction from neither him nor his wife that he wasn’t being rude and that it was due to chronic illness.

Maybe a bit niche, this one, but I was teaching a novel for GCSE English Literature, which has a shocking/upsetting ending.

My very lovely top set year 11s were appalled when we got to the end.

I'd done quite a bit with them on the author's background - which was big on her religious beliefs, & they were genuinely pissed off that she'd had such a horrible & uncalled for denouement in mind. It was unfair. It visited horror on the well meaning protagonist & his innocent family.

Now, I was happy that we'd just read a schlocky horror novel, but y11 were not.

Ok, I said, let's email the author, shall we? So I did, politely asking if we'd all missed something & the hero had deserved the awfulness.

Well. She got back to me within 20 minutes, to explain that my class were clearly irredeemably stupid & I was evidently too thick to understand her fabulous creation. Year 11 were agog. We all went off to lunch still arguing about whether it was worth reading a book when the author was a self evident total arsehole, so it made for a fascinating discussion.

It was the most amazingly rude email I've ever read! It was...well, it was bloody awesome tbh. I've treasured it for years & dig it out occasionally when teaching Macbeth - ties in nicely to the slaughter of the little Macduffs.

But it was staggeringly, sublimely vile & aggressive.

Author was interviewed by the Guardian a few weeks later saying how much she hated her books being taught because blah blah thick teachers (still happy to take the exam board quids though eh).

I'd like to think 11ENG1 inspired that .

As a fat teenager and fat adult... many many comments in passing, almost always from men and almost always helpfully pointing out that I am fat, disgusting, they wouldn't fuck me etc etc...

At 14 this happened whilst walking around a set of historic docks, some lad around 6ft tall probably in his late teens, shouted at me 'oi you fat bitch' as he was passing me. I turned and stepped towards him and told him to fuck off. He stepped back and fell into the dock.

I didn't stop to find out if he could swim either.

Unfortunately that is the only time I ever retaliated, looking back I wish I'd stood up for myself more!

Recently, trying to wheel myself through town and struggling a bit with the cobbles some nasty old fucker said 'you eat too much' as he passed me, which really threw me as normally in an obviously active user manual chair, self propelling, I don't get much abuse.

Those days are now gone as I can't self propel any more and use a power chair and its like being back to 14 years old again, the evil looks and nasty comments I get that I must need a powerchair because I have eaten myself so fat I can't walk (nope, other way round, Ive lost so much mobility I can't exercise!) are pretty much daily :( I do generally tell them to get to fuck now though!

I have had a few medical professionals treat me fairly dismissively and rudely, all based around the assumption that as I am fat and disabled, I don't work and this must be entirely self inflicted... and then they find out I am the sole wage earner and own my own home outright and tend to backpedal somewhat, but that just makes me feel sad for those who can't work who are still being treated badly by people who make assumptions that should know better!

@FridayNightAtTheBronze what the hell!!! I’d of pushed her in the pool! Sorry but if I’d been there I’d of said something on your behalf and called her out on being a rude fucker.

A Health Visitor who came to my home to do my post partum check and literally cackled "You'll never be a girl again" after I mentioned that my episiotomy stitches were uncomfortable.

@CorvusPurpureus, who, who?!

I’ve had quite a few comments about my twins - usually about DT2’s eyes (he’s visually impaired and also has quite a severe squint). But when he was a baby he was on medication which causes excess hair growth - he had amazing big hair but also a hairy forehead. A woman stopped me in town to peer into the buggy and said “ooh, one baby and one werewolf!” and laughed as if she were hilarious. I have no idea how I didn’t slap her to be honest.

Working in a call centre the bloke who defaulted on his loan payments every single month sneeringly asked if I could manage to spell his name seeing as I was so thick I could only get a job in a call centre. I replied yep reasonably confident as I’m temping before going to uni in London to study English!

Second was at mine and DH’s first and only NCT meeting. We were 25 and I was pregnant with our (planned) DD. We were probably youngest there by about 10 years. Apropos of nothing, a lady put her hand on my bump and said “how brave we were continuing with an unplanned pregnancy at our age...” We really didn’t look young. And even if we were, it’s just fucking rude! At one point they separated the mums and dads. DH said none of the men spoke a word to him and just brayed at each other instead....

I think the worst was the day a man knocked on my car window shouting that I was just disgusting.

I was bfing dc2, safely ‘hidden away’ in my own car TWAT.

Thanksfully that was very much negated by the lovely lady who came to tell me I was doing a grand job a few weeks later.

@CorvusPurpureus

Maybe a bit niche, this one, but I was teaching a novel for GCSE English Literature, which has a shocking/upsetting ending.

My very lovely top set year 11s were appalled when we got to the end.

I'd done quite a bit with them on the author's background - which was big on her religious beliefs, & they were genuinely pissed off that she'd had such a horrible & uncalled for denouement in mind. It was unfair. It visited horror on the well meaning protagonist & his innocent family.

Now, I was happy that we'd just read a schlocky horror novel, but y11 were not.

Ok, I said, let's email the author, shall we? So I did, politely asking if we'd all missed something & the hero had deserved the awfulness.

Well. She got back to me within 20 minutes, to explain that my class were clearly irredeemably stupid & I was evidently too thick to understand her fabulous creation. Year 11 were agog. We all went off to lunch still arguing about whether it was worth reading a book when the author was a self evident total arsehole, so it made for a fascinating discussion.

It was the most amazingly rude email I've ever read! It was...well, it was bloody awesome tbh. I've treasured it for years & dig it out occasionally when teaching Macbeth - ties in nicely to the slaughter of the little Macduffs.

But it was staggeringly, sublimely vile & aggressive.

Author was interviewed by the Guardian a few weeks later saying how much she hated her books being taught because blah blah thick teachers (still happy to take the exam board quids though eh).

I'd like to think 11ENG1 inspired that .

I really need to know which book this was!

Was taken to a gathering when I was maybe 10 or 11 by a family friend (I was there as an excuse for her to leave as she wasn’t keen to stay long) anyway an older man at the gathering maybe late forties came across and said to me “you’re really ugly aren’t you” ive never got over it

All the shop ones reminded me of an incident a few years back.

My card wouldn't work in Asda. I was logging onto my bank to see if there was a problem. The cheeky cashier was leaving over to look and loudly stated "its got a minus so that means you don't have enough money". I was so proud that in my fury I managed "you work in Asda. That means you don't understand overdrafts". I rarely complain but complained about her.

I queued for ages to ensure a front seat then this bitch cunt sits right infront of my feet of all the places she could have sat she chose to sit on the front of my seat on the floor. Fucking weirdo.

Out one saturday night all dressed up I was walking up the street and two men walked past and I heard one of them say 'lily savage'.
I probably was wearing too much make up, I was about 19 at the time 5'1 and a size 6. I do have a heavy brow but im not unattractive or manly.
Heavily pregnant with my son. Someone threw a sweet hard at me out of the window of the top deck of a bus while i was sitting at the bus stop.
Son in pram at a different bus stop, old lady comes up to me oh you girls are getting younger and younger having babies.
Well no we're not the average age for first babies is going up and I'm 24.
Lots of older people were lovely to me and about my gorgeous baby, a few even gave me coins for his money box which was nice.
Weird man threatened to touch me walking past me in the street a few months ago.
I told him not to.
Im older and braver now.
And I'm a waitress so I deal with rude grabby twats on a weekly basis.
I also earn more money than half the people that act like they're better than me.

Not horrible as such, but after having been told that my father had just died in hospital (it was unexpected) a nurse gave me a cup of tea in a mug which said 'Best Dad Ever', it nearly broke me.

CorvusPurpureus you MUST put it on twitter

Working in the middle East, the local girls used to hate my freckles and were always researching ways to fade them. I remember once being told I have a pretty face except for the brown dots all over it!

I hope this thread is heading for Classics. Perhaps a bit too soon to call.

@Grenlei I hope you reported that health visitor.

@CorvusPurpureus tell, tell!

I will never forget the lady who guessed I was in my 'early forties' when I was twenty fucking six! Everyone else has guessed my age accurately give or take a year or 2 max so I know the problem was her as opposed to me looking much older than I am. Idiot!

I despair of humanity

I worked at WHSmith’s when I was a student and I was putting stock on the shelves when I saw an older man at the counter, I hurried over and said, ‘Hiya, how can I help?’ He said, ‘I want no help from you, you ignorant idiot!’ really aggressively and walked off. I had no idea where it had come from, he was waiting less than a minute as I came over from the shelf and I couldn’t understand it. I am ashamed to admit I chased him up the shop telling him he was the ignorant one for speaking so appallingly to someone. My boss saw me and escorted him out. I’d worked there a long time and he knew I wouldn’t have reached to him had he not have been truly awful.

Woman in a lift called me a lazy cunt because I was only going up two flights. I said it's a bit difficult to do the stairs on crutches ( post knee surgery) and she went crazy shouting at me.

Everyone in the lift stood in a stunned silence while she ranted on.

At least I was only stuck with her for two floors!

Locked my face. It was a friend of a friend bit I really did not appreciate it