Hey, asshole, I'm talking to you. I've never met you, but you must be an asshole.

[Anonymous]

I think everyone is being a bit harsh to the "F You" mom of a toddler. I posted about suggesting she take the high road.

I still think she should have, but come on, we've all been there. Sometimes I just feel so pushed around - I just try to remember that the person I want to shout at, at that moment, is not the cause of all past wrongs. He/she is just the most convenient. Which is I think what happened to OP - she was the brunt of someone taking out their frustration though she didn't deserve it.

I think the world and certainly this area would be so much better if everyone just held back a bit. The guy that the F you mom yelled out was in the wrong, but she was too, and the cycle continues. But I can relate to her - I've wanted to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone is being a bit harsh to the "F You" mom of a toddler. I posted about suggesting she take the high road.

I still think she should have, but come on, we've all been there. Sometimes I just feel so pushed around - I just try to remember that the person I want to shout at, at that moment, is not the cause of all past wrongs. He/she is just the most convenient. Which is I think what happened to OP - she was the brunt of someone taking out their frustration though she didn't deserve it.

I think the world and certainly this area would be so much better if everyone just held back a bit. The guy that the F you mom yelled out was in the wrong, but she was too, and the cycle continues. But I can relate to her - I've wanted to do that.

Yes, but we're ashamed afterwards.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but we're ashamed afterwards.

Exactly. The "F you" mom thinks she did the right thing and she's proud of it!

If her post had ended with "afterwards, I really regretted doing that, especially in front of my child" no one would be jumping on her. But she continues to defend it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Things are not always what they seem. Some ass in the whole foods made a similar comment to me when I had a phone to me ear and was getting a cart. I was listening to a voice mail and the hold up was the buckle had been smashed and I had a hard time getting the toddler buckled in. I had to pry apart the part that holds the insert to get it in. When I was walking away, he said something about me being too busy on the phone to get a cart. I yelled out "fuck you!" and kept walking. He could not see what I was bent over doing and just assumed I was standing there because I was on the phone. He didn't need to say anything, it was done and over and he just wanted to be a dick. Even if I was taking too long for him, there was another row of carts for him to choose from.

Wow, PP, talk about rude!! And you shouted "fuck you!" to a stranger in front of your toddler? I would sympathize with the man you shouted at and stay far, far away from someone like you if I ever saw that interaction in public.

Plus, how effective was she dislodging the smashed buckle with a phone pressed to her head?

AND, if she was listening to voicemail, why wouldn't she hang up and dial back later. It's not like she would be hanging up on a person. It's a machine, for pete's sake..

[Anonymous]

OP, I hear ya. Today an old man in a new Benny cut me off (almost on top of my car, because other cars must be invisible?) and almost caused a huge accident. Then beeped at me like it was my fault he was pulling into traffic at 110 mph froma parking lot without looking (he never stopped and likely it never occurred to him). He really convinced me he thought he was the only one on the road. I think he believed it! What an idiot! Some people shouldn't have cell phones, some people shouldn't have cars. Sorry you were subjected to a "D.C. day".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but we're ashamed afterwards.

Exactly. The "F you" mom thinks she did the right thing and she's proud of it!

If her post had ended with "afterwards, I really regretted doing that, especially in front of my child" no one would be jumping on her. But she continues to defend it.

PP here. You are exactly right. I would be praying that my child didn't pick up those words because believe me, my children pick up every questionable thing that comes out of MY mouth. (Then again, I don't usually yell FUCK YOU at strangers in the supermarket.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
In front of your TODDLER???? Wow.

I guess I could teach her to take a bunch of crap off of strangers, that would be preferable. I'll be sure to get out any asshole's way from now on so I don't inadvertently irritate them. If someone is rude from now on, I'll be sure go cry about it all by myself instead of telling that person how I really feel. That sounds so much more healthy.

I'm the poster who got a tongue-lashing from a senior citizen for using my high beams (F U B*TC*!!!!). What I said after she said a mocking "thank you" to me was, "that's an odd way of saying thank you." then she said, "You should get your headlights fixed" and I said, "Thank you" and drove on. Then I said to my DC, "That woman was really rude. I don't ever want to hear you being rude to a total stranger over something stupid like headlights." My 6 year old said, "I'm never going to be rude to ANYBODY." Yea!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
In front of your TODDLER???? Wow.

I guess I could teach her to take a bunch of crap off of strangers, that would be preferable. I'll be sure to get out any asshole's way from now on so I don't inadvertently irritate them. If someone is rude from now on, I'll be sure go cry about it all by myself instead of telling that person how I really feel. That sounds so much more healthy.

I'm the poster who got a tongue-lashing from a senior citizen for using my high beams (F U B*TC*!!!!). What I said after she said a mocking "thank you" to me was, "that's an odd way of saying thank you." then she said, "You should get your headlights fixed" and I said, "Thank you" and drove on. Then I said to my DC, "That woman was really rude. I don't ever want to hear you being rude to a total stranger over something stupid like headlights." My 6 year old said, "I'm never going to be rude to ANYBODY." Yea!!

Good job!!!

[Anonymous]

I'm not looking for validation of my choices, folks. I really don't care if you don't agree with my choice of words. I'm not asking any of you to tell someone off. You do whatever works for you. I, personally, don't find "fuck" or even "fuck you" all that offensive. Would "go to hell" be preferred? Or "Asshole!!"?

The fact is that I don't fell guilty, ashamed or embarrassed. No one asked me to leave the store and no one carted me off in a straight jacket for saying what I wanted to say. It was several months ago and the toddler still has not used any foul language. My intention was to make my feelings known with as few words as possible, and I did.

The entire point of the original post was to give an example of a man being rude about a phone and to explain that his assumptions were wrong.

If you don't want me to utter obscenities in the grocery store, don't be an asshole. That is even more true if you want to be an asshole when you don't understand what is actually happening.

[Anonymous]

"fuck you" poster, just a thought. OP's post was on rudeness, and how, when one person is being rude, we should not compound the situation by being rude in return. A bit of forgive and forget. Your post is completely different, though, because you were rude, someone was rude back, and then you were rude to an entire store of people. That's right. If you and the man behind you were the only two around, your response to him is one thing. But you shouted "fuck you" in what I can only assume is a grocery store populated with children and families. You're lucky someone else (who didn't appreciate their own kids hearing a stranger shout fuck you in a supermarket) didn't add to the rudeness factor by scolding you AGAIN. I don't like when people pile on a poster, but you are completely in the wrong on this one. It's not appropriate to yell profanities at someone anywhere, much less when kids are around. And please don't tell us you checked around to see if other people's kids were getting the benefit of you putting this man in place. Honestly, if you'd have done this in front of my kids, I would have (politely) asked you to watch your mouth.

[Anonymous]

1808 here again. I just remembered another story. I was in college and went to a state park with a bunch of friends. We were wading in a stream along with a ton of other people. I had a potty mouth back then (stilll do, but know when to stifle it now, thankfully) and slipped on a bunch of rocks. I said "oh fuck!" really, really loud. A man with two children yelled at me for a full 10 minutes. I was soooooo embarrassed. He went way too far, in my opinion, because I immediately felt mortified and said "I'm soooo sorry, I don't know what I was thinking" and even apologized to his kids. But am I on this board complaining that he hurt my feelings? No! Because I was acting like an idiot and got called out for it, just like "fuck you" poster deserved to be called out for saying what she said in public. It doesn't matter that someone else started the fight, you are still responsible for your own actions and for not adding unpleasantness to everyone else's day.

Sorry for getting side-tracked away from OP's original point, which is that we should all be more understanding of what is happening behind the scenes in an alleged asshole's life. The other day my husband (who is always supernice) blasted his horn at someone who cut him off. Then we saw out of state plates and a completely bemused looking man gesturing apologetically at us. We felt bad -- the man was older and was clearly lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not looking for validation of my choices, folks. I really don't care if you don't agree with my choice of words. I'm not asking any of you to tell someone off. You do whatever works for you. I, personally, don't find "fuck" or even "fuck you" all that offensive. Would "go to hell" be preferred? Or "Asshole!!"?

The fact is that I don't fell guilty, ashamed or embarrassed. No one asked me to leave the store and no one carted me off in a straight jacket for saying what I wanted to say. It was several months ago and the toddler still has not used any foul language. My intention was to make my feelings known with as few words as possible, and I did.

The entire point of the original post was to give an example of a man being rude about a phone and to explain that his assumptions were wrong.

If you don't want me to utter obscenities in the grocery store, don't be an asshole. That is even more true if you want to be an asshole when you don't understand what is actually happening.

Well you sure feel something or you wouldn't be coming back to explain yourself. Sorry if your sailor talk got in the way of the lesson about how other people can be rude, but you are setting a bad example for your child. You are not demonstrating assertiveness. You are showing that sinking low is fine if someone starts it first.

[Anonymous]

Whether the F U poster finds those terms offensive or not is exactly the problem. It doesn't matter. It's whether her audience finds it offensive that is important. I am sure that the man she was having the dispute with couldn't care less. Even in a civilized world, you can pick your nose in private, but when someone sees it is when it is deemed disgusting. Curse in the privacy of your own home, and leave the rest of us be.

Everyone around her is so "self-centric", OP included. Does your back story really matter if you get hit by a car because you weren't paying attention because for the first time in years you decided to use your ancient cell phone?

Does it really matter that the F U mom was listening to voicemail? To the rest of us mortals, it looks like you were multi-tasking when you should have been single tasking on getting your kid into the cart. You not only didn't give a damn about the other people you were holding up, you chose to use profanity as your very intelligent retort to a situation in which someone called you out.

Good god people, grow up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sure that the man she was having the dispute with couldn't care less.

This is an important point. I used to beep at people driving in outrageously asshole-ish ways, even if they weren't endangering me. I did it because I wanted them to know, as the FU poster said, that they were being dicks. I realized that anyone driving in such a way isn't going to be affected one bit by my little car's anemic beep. They'd keep on being assholes, and I'd be more stressed out about it.

So yeah, I agree, saying FU to a stranger is over the top, unnecessary, and the dickhead in question will not modify his behavior just because someone yelled at him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whether the F U poster finds those terms offensive or not is exactly the problem. It doesn't matter. It's whether her audience finds it offensive that is important. I am sure that the man she was having the dispute with couldn't care less. Even in a civilized world, you can pick your nose in private, but when someone sees it is when it is deemed disgusting. Curse in the privacy of your own home, and leave the rest of us be.

Everyone around her is so "self-centric", OP included. Does your back story really matter if you get hit by a car because you weren't paying attention because for the first time in years you decided to use your ancient cell phone?

Does it really matter that the F U mom was listening to voicemail? To the rest of us mortals, it looks like you were multi-tasking when you should have been single tasking on getting your kid into the cart. You not only didn't give a damn about the other people you were holding up, you chose to use profanity as your very intelligent retort to a situation in which someone called you out.

Good god people, grow up.

YES!!!! exactly.