Holiday spirit? I think not! (long vent)

[mommaU4]

Well the two older kids and I hit the mall today. Got DS 's hair cut, had some lunch, walked around, then went to the grocery store and started huge Thankgiving shopping list.
Tons of people out. The weather was very nasty here today. Windy as could be. I was being blown all over the road. Lots of trees and power lines down. I thought that would deter some, but no such luck.

So we go to JCPenney after 4:00 to use a coupon I had and hit the sales. The kids were being very good especially considering all we'd done so far. As we are walking through the kids clothing my DS bent over to pick up his "lucky" penny that he'd found at the food court earlier.

As he stood up he bumped right into a lady who was rushing through the racks of clothing. First words out of his mouth were "I'm sorry", without any prompting from me. Not even one of my "mom" looks. I was glad he apologized for bumping her. Then she shoots him this nasty evil glare, shakes her head in disgust, gives a big sigh/huff and storms off.

I just stood there. I said "OMG, what a (rhymes with witch)!" Not sure if my DS heard me or not. But I couldn't believe how rude she was. Today I had more people than I care to think about bump into me, push me, and nearly run over me with their cart. If they said sorry then it was fine. Even if I was irritated I just smiled and let it go.

It's the holidays. Your supposed to be full of good cheer. The stores are crowded and guess what? It's only going to get worse as we get closer to Christmas. If this lady couldn't handle people accidentally bumping her and then immediately apologizing, then maybe she should have stayed home and done her shopping online where she wouldn't have deal with the public.

I guess I just got so mad because it was my kid, and he didn't deserve that. It was an accident. He apologized. Get over it. I was very tempted to catch up to her and ask what her problem was. Why did she feel the need to be so rude to a 10 year old kid? But I obviously would never do anything like that in front of my kids.

So what I did was tell my son he did a good job by apologizing right away and not to worry about it, she was probably just in a bad mood. And now I'm here venting to you all so I can let it go and try to keep my holiday spirit in tact. Thanks guys.

 

[m&m's mom]

Well, I am not sure I would have reacted quite that way. I probably would have either said to my child, "I hope her day gets better" and laughed it off, or if I really ticked off I would have said sweetly to the lady "It appears you are having a bad day, hope it gets better".
I have actually done this a few times and every time the person has smiled back and made some comment along the lines of an apology.
Shows my kids that our moods are determined by ourselves and not others.
Or... I would have told the kids"look there is Mickey" to distract them and stuck my tongue out at the lady. Haven't actually done that yet, but sure been tempted.

 

[Zurealsoon]

It's the holidays. Your supposed to be full of good cheer. .

I'm sorry that happened. But I don't think it's the Holidays...yet??

 

[mommaU4]

Well, I guess with Thanksgiving coming up I think of it as the holiday season, not just Christmas per se.

And with all the X-mas decorations in the stores and most people in JCPenney's shopping for presents already (lots of people asking for boxes and gift reciepts) I thought perhaps people would be in a better mood.

Maybe the foul weather had something to do with it.

 

[Aurora63]

I'm sorry that happened. But I don't think it's the Holidays...yet??

Maybe not, but people should show common courtesy, holidays or not.

 

[lulugirl]

Rude people irritate me too.

 

[mommyx3]

Good job controlling yourself!! I have a hard time with this also! It would have been one thing if your DS was running around out of control, then maybe she would have a reason for being so inconsiderate! Again good job parenting, the last thing we need is to let our children see us act out what we really wish we could do or say!! haha---mommyx3

 

[ellyn2000]

I'm sorry that happened, too. I am happy though that you have taught your children the importance of being polite. Children like that are a joy to be around and it's sad that the rude lady didn't take a second to appreciate it. Maybe she was just having a bad day.