Rude child; limited/delayed parental intervention

[Anonymous]

I'm 100% sure I'm going to get told to check my priviledge, or I'll be told that my expectation is unreasonable because what I consider rude or inappropriate is not rude or inappropriate to others, but I still need to vent about what happened to me today.

I am hard of hearing and wear bilateral devices to aid my hearing.

I was in a waiting room today when the (approximately 7 or 8 year old) child who was seated next to me reached up and grabbed the device off my right ear. I calmly said, "Excuse you, do not do that. Please give it back to me." The child then started laughing and mocking my speech. The mother just sat there, texting on her phone, oblivious to what was happening, and even after I told her that her kid had ripped my device off my ear and that I needed it back immediately. The mom just shrugged and said, "Well, I don't know what to tell you."

I repeated myself and told the child to give back my device. Again, the child just laughed and mocked my speech.

I then directly addressed the mother again, and she sighed and then said, "Give back the lady's toy." (TOY?!?)

The kid threw my device down at my feet and continued to mock my speech for several minutes. Mom said nothing, but she did chuckle a few times.

I was furious that the child was so rude, but also disgusted with the mother. Thankfully, my device seems undamaged, but that was far from the only problem with the situation.

I am very concerned about the direction we're taking, with limited consideration for others or property. It's infuriating.

[Anonymous]

That is entirely beyond the pale, OP. You would have been justified in yelling at the parent. I'm sorry you had to experience such unpleasantness.

[Anonymous]

I think you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks you were in the wrong here.

This story is so egregious it sounds made up. If it isn’t, I’m very sorry you encountered such a badly behaved adult and child.

[Anonymous]

OMG
I'm not someone who swear, but I would be tearing into that kid if he still had my device. Mom seems checked out,

[Anonymous]

I thought this was going to be about a tabtrumming 3yo. No, OP, you’re justified in being angry. That’s terrible! I’m glad your heard device isn’t too damaged.

[Anonymous]

Weird opener OP. Obviously you aren't going to get pushback on this.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I am extraordinarily grateful that there is no damage to my device. It's expensive enough just to maintain hearing devices. Replacement is exorbitantly expensive and is also a significant inconvenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has to be a troll.

Not a troll. I'm sure there's security camera footage to back up that it happened. I know it seems unbelievable, but it's unfortunately true.

Wow OP - unbelievable - I would at a minimum report the mother and child to the store and get them Banned from there.

You sounded like the model of restraint - I probably would have loudly ripped into the mother and the child. The mother was not just rude but probably in violation of various laws such as enabling discrimination against disability. I am sure the store management would not approve of customers treating other customers in such a terrible way and would have removed them if alerted to their awful Behavior:

I am sorry you experienced so much disrespect while merely shopping.

[Anonymous]

Kid was probably autistic and mom didn't want to set him off into a tantrum.

[Anonymous]

Kid does not sound autistic at all.

OP--what kind of waiting room was this? Can you address it with whoever runs the business?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid does not sound autistic at all.

OP--what kind of waiting room was this? Can you address it with whoever runs the business?

I will try. I probably should have while I was there, but I just wanted to get home to calm down.

[Anonymous]

This is weird. By “devise” do you mean hearing aid? How large are they? I just can’t even imagine how this all played out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is weird. By “devise” do you mean hearing aid? How large are they? I just can’t even imagine how this all played out.

On that side, I have a cochlear implant with over-ear processor. The exterior upper part is just magnetic, but the processor unit hooks onto my ear with an ear hook.

On the other side, I wear a traditional hearing aid. It's smaller and more difficult to see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks you were in the wrong here.

This story is so egregious it sounds made up. If it isn’t, I’m very sorry you encountered such a badly behaved adult and child.

+1
I assume the child has a behavioral disability at the least and he is being raised by a mother that doesn't care for him, so double whammy. I would have not hesitated to loudly correct his behavior. I mean so loud Beethoven could hear it.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry this happened to you. As a teacher I’m not the least bit surprised. I think most people would be stunned at how some children act today.