young women pushing me out of the way (I'm 8 months pregnant)

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:okay, do i have mommy brain or is this thread getting hard to follow?

no mommy brain, PP

This thread is indeed hard to follow.

Pregnant OP is complaining about rude people. I'm sure you could hear the same rant by the elderly or those with physical disabilities.

Crap. I really must have mommy brain because I thought that this thread was about how dog parks undermine the cult of motherhood.

As you can see, I did poorly on my SATs. Mostly because my mother used a crappy stroller, didn't pick the correct fetal yoga classes, and failed to secure me a prestigious internship at Oxford when I was in 5th grade.

The cult of motherhood was indeed responsible for the suggestion that pregnant women and mothers with young children deserve special consideration because they're providing a service that benefits all of us. I believe that before middle class values evolved in the 19th century to place women in a private sphere and created the cult of motherhood, working class women were expected to maintain their physical labors during pregnancy and when they had small children if they wanted to eat.

The equating of dog-rearing with child-rearing is a symptom of its collapse. Another symptom is the withholding of special treatment for pregnant women. Unfortunately, allowances for the literal gravitas of advanced pregnancy were, in fact, a form of special treatment.

I think it is important to recognize that the way feminism unfolded created as well as resolved social problems.

OP here. I am genuinely sorry for starting a thread that devolved into such utter nonsense as this. I said I was moving on but just cannot believe that this thread has stretched out for pages. My post was pretty simple. I don't enjoy being pushed around, felt it was happening more than usual in the past few weeks, and thought this was especially remarkable because I am pregnant. Let's be clear about a few things: I wouldn't let my kids fart around and delay others while we're shopping but I don't think I'd blow a gasket if I was behind someone who was letting their children "help," either. Life's too short to have freak outs about this kind of thing. I also don't park strollers in the middle of the aisle and send a mental "tough shit" out to those trying to navigate around me; again, if someone else did this I think I'd say "excuse me," help them move, and call it a day. I don't believe I'm entitled to anything more than my own space and don't want or need to impose myself on anyone else. Um, what else. I think Friday's and BBandBeyond are perfectly fine establishments, though I generally try to buy local when I can, and so forgive me for poking fun at myself for being at those places. Trust me, I know humor is not often well received on DCUM, but I suppose if you have to translate a joke, it wasn't very funny.

I have no idea how any of this has to do with the "cult of motherhood," dog parks -- I like them, is that bad?, or the elderly being "allowed" to check out their own groceries, or how nobody but me gives a crap about my "special moment" in life (aka pregnancy). All it has to do with is a basic fundamental of human interaction -- it is wrong to push and shove.

I will say that it is extremely unsettling how many of you will openly admit (on an anonymous forum, at least) to unapologetically pushing aside those in our society who can't move as quickly as you personally think they should be and the attitude many have taken, that these subsections of society should basically stay at home in order to make room for the faster among us. If you can't see where you're wrong with that attitude, I doubt anyone on DCUM will be able to convince you otherwise. Which honestly, is probably sadder for you than it is for me. Must feel very frustrating to be held up by the weak so often and must be kind of cold to be so thoroughly without human empathy.

Now I'm going to go to a dog park. I hope I see a mom with a stroller on the way so I can hold the door for her.

Well, OP, just pick up the dog poop behind you.

[Anonymous]

Haha -- knew the OP would be back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:a) YOU try telling my grandmother what to do. She's a grown woman. b) She's not that much faster handling the coupons and the card swipe machine.

You, please, try saying, "Grandma, people are waiting. I'm sorry, but please let me help you." A grown woman should be able to understand that it is inconsiderate to make people wait for selfish reasons.

Not the PP, but when did it become "selfish" to desire to handle one's own groceries? I honestly think some of these posts must be jokes, because otherwise our society is truly scary when it comes to its attitude toward children and older people.

Again, it is selfish to impose on somebody else's time. Any affective benefits like a sense of independence need to be gained without inconveniencing increasingly busy fellow citizens. Children and older people need to accept that they have to find their place within a rhythm that allows business to continue without interruption. If that's the ground rule, parents and care-givers need to find ways to work around it. It can be done, but it is a way of thinking that's unfamiliar to people used to a slower pace of life. I'm suggesting that the slow paradigm doesn't apply so well to DC anymore and that the tensions we're seeing are related to changing expectations.

I've actually never seen an elderly person with an able bodied person with her handle all the unloading of the groceries. Maybe they both unload at the same time, but I have never seen an older person unloading groceries while her adult child is just standing there watching. In my book - an elderly or handicapped person unloading their groceries is not comparable to a toddler unloading groceries. But whatever - if I saw a toddler unloading groceries, I'd go to another line. The one marked: considerate, fast people.

I would say the considerate customers are the ones who know how to wait patiently for those who are slower than they are.

con·sid·er·ate (kn-sdr-t)
adj.
1. Having or marked by regard for the needs or feelings of others.