No empathy shown by husband

[StarlightSterling]

Watching a programme with husband about nurse training and a young girl of 6 needed a blood test. Nurses were assisting to help calm the little girl who started crying when she saw the needle. Husband said she’s mardy, just needs to get on with it.,needles never bothered him as a child!

Is it just me or is he mean?

He's not mean, he's making a comment about someone on tv that will never know what he said. It's not like he's standing there preparing to jab her!

some behaviour - a lot of behaviour is learned behaviour

My BIL is like this, he was awful to their kids growing up.

'I'll give you something to cry about' etc etc.

Some people just have zero empathy, they shouldn't be parents IMO.

It’s not like the girl could hear him, he was commenting on the tv. YABU

He was talking to the tv! OP hasn’t even said if he has kids

It doesn't matter if he was talking to the TV, it's a perfectly natural for a 6 year old to get scared/upset about having to have a needle.. it's not 'mardy' in the slightest, most adults wouldn't need to be told that.

You could equally turn it around and say why would it bother him so much, 'it was only a person on TV', yet he felt strongly enough to comment on it and compare himself to her.

He sounds more stupid than mean

Why would he need to be empathetic about this?

It isn’t comparable to your BIL threatening to give his own kids ‘something to cry about’ though is it?

I agree, some people have so little understanding how a child must be feeling.

That was only one of his sayings, he had a complete lack of understanding and empathy to his kids, it often started with calling his kids 'mardy' which is where the comparison comes in.

If he didn't feel something then no one else should feel that way either.

Like I said, it's a lack of empathy.

Tbh i was very much like this with my kids when they were growing up! No nonsense, get it over and done with! I have no patience with hysterical tantrums. All of my children are very matter of fact about such things now days.

My mum was like this too. i think it’s a good thing- it shows the kids there’s no reason to panic. sometimes pandering reinforces the fear.

I couldn’t agree more

What stands out most for me here is that "mardy" doesn't mean crying where I come from, it means sulky and uncommunicative. Apart from that, his comment wouldn't bother me that much since the child in question wasn't actually there to hear it.

One remark at the TV and some people are putting him down as a sociopath.

It sounds like he was a little harsh and none of us have actually seen the clip - maybe the reaction was wildly over the top.