AIBU?
to be furious at the woman who upset my dad
laurliemonkey · 11/11/2007 16:29
my dad was in the supermarket this morning and was behind a woman in the queue. Her baby was smiling at my dad so he smiled back and made some general baby 'hello' sounds to him. at which the woman shouted in front of a busy store 'f-off you paedo'. now i know people have to be careful, but he hadn't even touched the kid or anything, was just keeping him occupied in the queue. GRRR!
PatsyCline · 11/11/2007 16:41
YANBU. What an awful woman.
We got talking to a really lovely older couple a few weeks ago in a cafe becauser the man was going "Goo goo" at our toddler and then said, "Oh, I shouldn't really be doing this, should I?" with a sigh. I told him not to be so daft.
If we live in a world where no man can talk to a child (in full view of its bloody parents!) then we do live in a very sad and screwed up society.
catsmother · 11/11/2007 16:49
Of course you're not being unreasonable - what a completely stupid and nasty woman - how dare she try to make your dad feel ashamed ?
What's even worse is that her offspring will grow up thinking that fuck off is an acceptable retort when someone smiles at you ! Wonder what the baby's 1st word will be .........
laurliemonkey · 11/11/2007 17:00
he's ok, just wondering whether he should stop doing it all together. i told him don't be daft , most mums are happy to be able to get through the queue with dc's occupied. its just that attitude - you're a man, who likes children= kiddie snatcher.
i was just worried that most mum's would now be like that, but thank god, never mumsnet mums!
Luella · 11/11/2007 17:09
Ah your poor dad, he sounds lovely. What a strange woman. You know, I love it when men coo over my DD, cos you do find in the main it's usually women. In fact, I go out of my way to show the man I approve of the attention, so he doesn't feel like I think he's a paedophile
laurliemonkey · 11/11/2007 17:19
i emailed my dad the comments- he wrote back ' i shall ask in future 'are you on mumsnet?' and then i'll know how to proceed'
he also assures me that he has been cooing at babies for the last 50 years and has no intention of stopping now, he was just exceptionally hurt that someone would jump to that conclusion and practically shout it in a supermarket he goes to every week.
it just makes me sad that some people would think like this, and that it wouldn't have happened had it been my mum.
lazyemma · 11/11/2007 17:24
I really feel for your dad. My husband is like that - loves children, is brilliant with them, but is now coming to the sad realisation that many mothers are now suspicious of men who are friendly to their children. What a messed up world we live in.
I blame the media, mostly - they're created this fear. Most victims of abuse are abused by someone they know, usually someone in their immediate family. The shady paedophile lurking in the park is a rarity, but has become a modern day boogie monster.
TinyGang · 11/11/2007 17:34
OMG how frightening and upsetting for your poor dad And I bet he won't do it again soon either which is even more sad.
I sometimes do the same thing. I suppose I always assume because I'm a mum/parent other people will see that for what it is. Some people are sadly the product of our suspicious and aggressive society and behave in a deranged and defensive way that can never be predicted. It's a terrible terrible shame.
Soon no-one will want to communicate or get involved with other people at all for fear of this. That's not living in a society, that's just co-existing
I do hope your dad hasn't taken her nastiness on board.
Personally I love it when people chat to my children and they enjoy chatting back.
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.