What do you say when someone says something mindblowingly stupid to you??

[DisneyAddict_M]

She suffers from OMIFS. Most commonly known as "Open Mouth Insert Foot Syndrome."

This is nowhere near as serious, but I've had people comment (upon seeing my dd's curls), "Wow, she has such beautiful hair. Good thing it wasn't wasted on a boy."

 

[Trish Bessette]

I think she got her brains out of a Cracker Jack box..........

Congratulations on your beautiful and PERFECT baby!!!

 

[piglet too]

Wow, what unthinking and uncaring people are out there. You really just have to turn a deaf ear.

 

[RachelEllen]

Originally posted by aprilgail2
Oh boy I am used to hearing things like that!! When Matt was sick I had gotten him so many things like rides in blimps becuase he was fasinated by them, A disney wish trip ,a cruise etc....I think the kids in his school were the worst...oh you get this stuff because you have a brain tumor and you think your are special....uggg....to me he was special and I am glad to have goten him all those things before he passed away!...one of the worst was after a brain surgery he got to wear a hat in school since his head was a mess and one kid pulled it off (knowing he was sick) and said "what do you think you are special and can wear a hat in school??" the school has a no hat rule but for cancer kids or brain tumor kids they bend it after surgery or during chemo when they have no hair.

Some people you just want to shake some sense into. We had to spend a lot of time last year with a school that wanted to fail a kid with cancer from PE because he couldn't swim (can't swim with a line). This was a 4.0 student, and doing well in school was most of what he had left. That same school refused to bend the no hat rule, and the kid would be just crying because he was so embarrassed about he looked. Just about nothing makes me angrier than having to spend my time at work on junk like that.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I may get flamed for this, BUT, I want to think, and say, just a little thought. And I think I am coming from a position of some knowledge, though in a slightly different vein.

In our early years of marriage, as it turned out, we did not have children born to us. People said comments, often sounding cruel, hurtful, and at least stupid. Once we became an adoptive family, again, comments, sometimes cruel sounding, hurtful sounding, at least, stupid sounding.....to us. I always (well, most often), tried to think good, and think that the person saying the comment was doing one of two things, either actually trying to be helpful and kind, but the words coming out, to us, the opposite, or, thoughts, simply put into words maybe too quickly, and not coming out right, to us. I think it was the rare, almost non-existent occasions when people would intentionally say a hurtful thing. But yes, oftentimes, words said without either forethought, or, simply coming out the wrong way from a person, who themselves are not in the situation we/you are (whatever that situation happens to be for each of us) and they thinking they are saying something kind or comforting, and it just not coming out that way to our more sensitive ears. I/we have been there, for reasons different than mentioned here, but still, have been there, listened to the remarks, but most often, just shaking holding my thoughts at the moment, and going on.

Just my thoughts, thought I would pass them on.

(Okay, who can pass me the flame suit?? )

 

[wvrevy]

Ok, I should have stopped reading this thread after my smart aleck comment

The posts about cancer kids just burn me up...How could anybody be that insensitive ?!? Who the hell is it going to hurt if the kid keeps his or her hat on because they've got a scar or they are going through chemo and have lost their hair ?

Just makes me want to slap somebody I think I'd have done everything I could to embarass the "administrator" that was enforcing that rule...and I'd have told the parent that said "maybe my kid should get a tumor..." to....well, I don't know what I'd have said, but i'm fairly certain none of it would make it past the filter here on the DIS.

Makes me think of the old saying:

"You know how dumb the average person can be ? Well, half the people you meet will be dumber than that."

 

[luvwinnie]

This one isn't insensitive, just funny:

My cat killed a mouse and I was concerned about diseases she could catch, so I called the vet who proceeded to ask me:

WAS IT A HEALTHY MOUSE?

Well, gee, I didn't take him blood pressure and temperature before he was inviscerated!

 

[clutter]

For Dan:


:thewave:


I heartily agree. If all of us took people to task for the stupid comments made inadvertantly (not like some of the ones here, but like the comment made to the op, I think we'd eventually eliminate idle chatter. I tend to be more of a forgiver, since I'm secure in the knowledge that I will eventually insert my foot in my mouth again, totally unintentionally.

 

[Lanshark]

I have a very tall beautiful 17 year old who is also dyslexic. My neighbor (a math professor at a local college) asked DD where she went to school. DD told her where she went and that she went there because she is dyslexic. This moron then looks at me as says, "She doesn't look dyslexic". I pitty her students.

 

[RachelEllen]

One more that I guess is kind of funny, but still made me cringe. My husband and I were discussing something random with some friends from the hospital and he remarked that he had had to fetch a package that had been delivered to the house of 'morons' down the street. I gave him a look like 'quit being rude' and he proceeded to dig himself deeper by insisting that 'no, they really are morons'

Turns out, he was referring to an actual house in our neighborhood where a group of mentally handicapped people lived with supervision (I had no idea.) He thought he was using a 'medical' term. I explained that even though 'moron' is a technical term, it is unlikely that people living that independantly would meet the criteria. I had to further explain, that even though the word used to be medical lingo, it has gained such a negative connotation, that's it's not used at all anymore in its medical sense and is actually rude. Luckily, he got it.

Rachel

 

[Shel]

My 11 yo dd was adopted at birth. She had 2 cousins at the time, one was 3 months old, and one was 4 days older than she was. Hey, my dad asked for grandkids one Christmas, and by the next year he had 2 gds, with ours on the way! lol
Here's some of the comments we heard -

At a family reunion my cousin came in while all 3 of the above babies were being fed & asked which one was the adopted one. We just stared at him like he was stupid.

We knew the birthmom, so many friends asked if we knew who the birthfather was as well.

There's always the classic - do you think you'll have one of your own someday?

The funniest one of all was while we were still in the process of being put on lists/in files as prospective adoptive parents...my soon to be ex-sister in law asked us if we'd have to learn to speak Chinese if our baby was from China. Can you say DUMB?

 

[GEM]

Originally posted by clutter
For Dan:


:thewave:


I heartily agree. If all of us took people to task for the stupid comments made inadvertantly (not like some of the ones here, but like the comment made to the op, I think we'd eventually eliminate idle chatter. I tend to be more of a forgiver, since I'm secure in the knowledge that I will eventually insert my foot in my mouth again, totally unintentionally.

Sorry, but once you've seen your baby (who is roughly the size of a beanie bear) bagged 11 times in one night because he's stopped breathing or once you've had the head nurse ask you if you've thought about funeral arrangments before you've even totallly decided on a name, I honestly don't think you could possibly consider it idle chatter or a silly goof for someone to suggest that you're lucky because, after all, you didn't have to put up with the backache and swollen ankles of late pregnancy.

No, I don't think she meant to be cruel. I think she was just honestly a complete idiot.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Some people just don't get it and they never will. I bet she never even thought twice about what she said...Dumb...

When I was 10 weeks pregnant, I was having a CVS because I was going to be 40 at delivery. While I was sitting there with a bladder full of about 2 gallons of water, they had my genetic counseling session that I had asked for. I was looking for possible problems with the pregancy, the usual questions. The counselor, about 22, right out of college no doubt was a total idiot. She told me some statistics for retardation that were quite different than what my doctor had told me before I got pregnant, very different. She could see the look on my face, and she said...(I still can't believe that these words came out of a counselor's mouth...) "Oh, that's not what you were expecting? Don't blame me, I'm just doing my job..."and THEN a nervous little TEEHEE at the end...What a fool! And I am just as bad because I didn't ever say anything to anyone at that office....It still upsets me to this day, but since DS was fine, I let it go..

 

[Nancy]

i never had anything that dumb or rude said to me...but my first 2 are 18 months apart. #2 was 9 pounds and 22 inches and #1 was 71/2 and 20 inches. They look totally different. #1 has light hair and blue eyes...#2 has dark hair and dark brown eyes. (1 looks like my family, 2 looks like husbands side) when they were small people would ask if they were sisters...I'd say yes.....one lady asked if they had the same father! I was quiet for a second and said...Gee I just don't know, I can't rememeber who I was with at that time. She turned red, huffed and walked away. DD#3 looks more like #2, but she actually looks like she should be my SIL's kid...she looks just like her.

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by luvwinnie
This one isn't insensitive, just funny:

My cat killed a mouse and I was concerned about diseases she could catch, so I called the vet who proceeded to ask me:

WAS IT A HEALTHY MOUSE?

Well, gee, I didn't take him blood pressure and temperature before he was inviscerated!

I am sure what the Vet meant was had the mouse been poisoned. If so then Yes your cat might be in danger. If the mouse was "healthy" then probably not.