Who asked for YOUR input???

[rosiep]

For this reason - child, adult - whatever - it's rude to interject yourself into someone else's conversation. So to me:

1 - eavesdropping - rude, but most of us do it
2 - putting yourself in someone's conversation - uninvited - bad manners3 - making a comment of the nature she did - even worse.

Uh-oh. One of my favorite things to do at Disney is to talk to strangers. I will sometimes start a conversation because I have overheard a remark. It is most always welcomed, but if I get any sense that it is not I back off.

I think I could easily have been the woman who thought she was "helping" but in fact, did not.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

I'm just surprised at the number of you who don't converse with strangers at WDW. Probably because you think it's rude.

WDW is suppose to be a happy magical place, I don't even know that numbers of conversations that have taken place with strangers waiting in line or around the parks... I mean God forbid you talk to people you don't know from another part of the world or country aka everyone you talk to on this very message board...

 

[sarahrip]

OK ... first off ... who takes a picky eater to a sushi restaurant?

Secondly ... not a child. Most 20-ish YOs I know would have either known what the orange stuff was or, after finding out, would have scraped it off and continued enjoying their sushi. They wouldn't have pushed away the plate and pouted.

I would imagine that the other person was simply sharing some knowledge, the very same way most of us say we share knowledge about Disney with total strangers. I mean, if you had been standing in line somewhere and this very same person had "butted in" to tell you a new secret they'd discovered about getting into the first row at Soarin' or how to speed up an online reservation, you probably wouldn't have cared at all that they offered up their unsolicited input.

It's not like the person was sitting there thinking, "ooooooh ... I know! Let's totally ruin this person's last day by telling them they're eating fish eggs!!" Come on. Lighten up.

The stranger didn't spoil your last meal. You let it spoil your last meal.

I agree 100% very well said

 

[Raenstoirm]

Yup, another "rude" Disney vacationer here! I would have "butted in" too. And I would have even made the gross comment if your daughters reaction was funny. If you cant stand raw things why eat Sushi!

I will say I am very similar to your daughter with the fish eggs thing, but I am a vegetarian, so it a little different. I would be VERY POed if someone tried to trick me into eating fish eggs.

 

[vicki_c]

I am sociable to a fault - just ask my DH - I talk to anyone and everyone! But over time, I have actually had to train myself NOT to interject myself in others' conversations in public places like Disney.

I do think it's bad manners to overhear someone else's conversation and decide to add your own 2 cents when you are not being spoken to. I see that entirely different as striking up a conversation with someone while you are waiting in a line or something. I never thought the person was trying to ruin the OP's meal or trip or anything like that, I was just commenting on MY interpretation of whether it was good manners.

Some people make it sound like because I made the comment I did or the OP said what she said that we never speak to anyone! I'm sure my 12K posts on the DIS would give you some idea that I usually always have something to say!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

The things that people let irritate them is astonishing to me.

 

[carlyle688]

Uh-oh. One of my favorite things to do at Disney is to talk to strangers. I will sometimes start a conversation because I have overheard a remark.

Me too. Many of the people whose conversations I have butted into at Epcot have become my closest friends.

And, seriously, if there is something on your plate you don't like, push it to the side and grow up.

 

[lovealatte]

Hi, I'm actually the same age as your daughter, and I can be a picky eater for medical reasons.

1- I always know exactly what I'm eating. Didn't the menu explain what was in that particular sushi?
2- If something ended up on my plate that I don't eat, which has happened many times, I simply take it off or push it aside, no harm done.
3- I think the lady was trying to be helpful. I don't really see an issue with what she did, but I think the "gross" comment was out of place.
But then again, I wouldn't let it ruin anything for sure.

just my .02!

 

[yankeepenny]

"Well, my sister and I were well aware that it was roe, but I knew that if we shared that detail while we were eating to my picky eater daughter she would not eat any more"

sounds like trickery and deception to me.
the outsider who told your daughter what she was eating just told her the truth, since neither other two adults at the table did.


just my one cent's worth.

 

[twinkable]

OK ... first off ... who takes a picky eater to a sushi restaurant?

Secondly ... not a child. Most 20-ish YOs I know would have either known what the orange stuff was or, after finding out, would have scraped it off and continued enjoying their sushi. They wouldn't have pushed away the plate and pouted.

I would imagine that the other person was simply sharing some knowledge, the very same way most of us say we share knowledge about Disney with total strangers. I mean, if you had been standing in line somewhere and this very same person had "butted in" to tell you a new secret they'd discovered about getting into the first row at Soarin' or how to speed up an online reservation, you probably wouldn't have cared at all that they offered up their unsolicited input.

It's not like the person was sitting there thinking, "ooooooh ... I know! Let's totally ruin this person's last day by telling them they're eating fish eggs!!" Come on. Lighten up.

The stranger didn't spoil your last meal. You let it spoil your last meal.

Agreed, 100%

 

[joybeth]

"Well, my sister and I were well aware that it was roe, but I knew that if we shared that detail while we were eating to my picky eater daughter she would not eat any more"

sounds like trickery and deception to me.
the outsider who told your daughter what she was eating just told her the truth, since neither other two adults at the table did.


just my one cent's worth.

This is why I love public forums so much! If if weren't for you well intentioned people I would never realize that I was using trickery and deception to get my daughter to eat something she did not want to eat. And thanks to all of you I would not have known that I must not love her if I was so willing to use this trickery and deception. I also would not have realized that this had ruined my trip! I had posted earlier that in spite of the record cold temps we had the best trip ever. And see, I didn't realize that it was perfectly okay to approach total strangers at a restaraunt and and tell them that the food on their plate is gross. All this time I thought that would rude and in bad taste. Silly me! I didn't realize that I could end up with a best friend if I did that!

Thanks for all the wisdom! You have shown me the light.

jb

 

[eelkmj01]

December 15 was the last day of our vacation and we spent a wonderful day at EPCOT. My daughter is in her second year of college and recently discovered that she likes sushi. My sister was nice enough to treat us to sushi at Tokyo Dining for our last meal before heading out on ME. We had just started enjoying all of the beautiful sushi rolls when my daughter wondered aloud what the orange stuff was. Well, my sister and I were well aware that it was roe, but I knew that if we shared that detail while we were eating to my picky eater daughter she would not eat any more. We just sort of changed the subject. Just then the couple next to us were getting up to leave. The young woman leaned over to my daughter and said "it's fish eggs, I know because I used to work at a Japanese resteraunt!" My daughter looked at her in horror and the woman said "I know, isn't that gross!"

Needless to say my daughter pushed her plate away and didn't eat another bite. My sister planned this lunch especially for my daughter. This stranger's input spoiled our last meal on our vacation.

Why did she think this comment would add any "magic" to our day? ugh!

jb

Like a car crash, I can't look away from this thread. OP has stated since the original post that this incident didn't ruin her trip, but her thread title and original post clearly indicate that the last day was in fact "ruined" at least to an extent b/c of this comment. I'm not debating whether it was rude of this person to do or not, but in OP's original post, she clearly indicates the offender didn't start by telling DD fish eggs are gross. Only after DD's look of "horror" did said offender offer " I know, isn't that gross?"

Maybe this person read DD's body language or look of "horror" as a look of "isn't that gross?"

The only other point I would debate is if said offender was eve's dropping. In an atmosphere where others are talking (and quite loudly sometimes), maybe said offender couldn't help but over hear your conversation...or lack there of with your grown, adult, DD. But I don't think OP is the type of person to broadcast her business to total strangers...look at her discretion in this thread!

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

Your lack of a reply to your daughter, despite how well-intentioned it might have been, was probably seen by the lady at the next table as a lack of knowledge on your part - so they ventured in with their reply.

If you had handled the situation better you wouldn't have gotten upset that someone provided your daughter with a truthful answer (despite the fact it wasn't welcomed).

She's an adult who can make her own decisions on what to eat - that's the choice I give my teenagers - so why trick her into eating it

 

[whitneyNC]

Us Southerners always but in! We call it being friendly and helpful. Yeah, no harm done. Your daughter really shouldn't eat things she doesn't have an understanding of!

 

[DaisyMaisie]

"I didn't realize that it was perfectly okay to approach total strangers at a restaraunt and and tell them that the food on their plate is gross."

I am sure we would all agree that it is rude to walk up to someone and tell them the food on their plate is gross. However, you know very well that is not what happened. From your own words. She told your daughter what roe was and then she commiserated with your daughter's reaction. Although "gross' was a poor choice of words, that wasn't what upset your daughter. After all, if you did not already know what your daughter's reaction would be when she found out what she was eating you would have told her the truth to begin with.

I am sorry that this thread has not worked out the way you hoped. But maybe just maybe someone else has at least a teeny tiny point. And we aren't all just "those people."

Can you not see that you you are harshly blaming someone who appears to have meant well? A lot of us can empathize with that person.

 

[Snape]

Fish eggs, fish eggs, roly poly fish eggs,

Oh wait, that's Fish Heads.

I think the OP needs to lighten up.

 

[WDSearcher]

This is why I love public forums so much! If if weren't for you well intentioned people I would never realize that I was using trickery and deception to get my daughter to eat something she did not want to eat. And thanks to all of you I would not have known that I must not love her if I was so willing to use this trickery and deception. I also would not have realized that this had ruined my trip! I had posted earlier that in spite of the record cold temps we had the best trip ever. And see, I didn't realize that it was perfectly okay to approach total strangers at a restaraunt and and tell them that the food on their plate is gross. All this time I thought that would rude and in bad taste. Silly me! I didn't realize that I could end up with a best friend if I did that!

Thanks for all the wisdom! You have shown me the light.

jb

Well ... y'know ... you were the one who posted in the first place. You've got enough time on this board under your belt that you surely must have known that not everyone would instantly and totally agree with you! If you did think that you were 100% correct and that there was no room for error in how you read the situation, then I for one am glad to have helped you on your road to enlightenment!

And, to be fair, the "total stranger" at the restaurant did not "approach you to tell you that the food on your plate is gross." They approached you to tell your daughter what the orange stuff on her sushi was. And when your daughter "looked at her in horror", the stranger went on to commisserate with her by saying, "I know! Isn't it gross!" I'm sure that if your daughter had reacted with, "Oh my gosh really? Cool!", the stranger's response would have been quite different.

And ... well ... you DID technically "use trickery and deception to get [your] daughter to eat something she did not want to eat." You said yourself that "if we shared that detail while we were eating to my picky eater daughter she would not eat any more" (indicating that you knew she was eating something she would not eat if she knew what it was), and that instead of answering her question, "We just sort of changed the subject" (indicating that you hoped that maybe if you didn't answer the question, your daughter would just keep eating -- a common trick used by parents the world over). So yeah ... you may not want to admit it, but you tricked and deceived her. Not in a horrible axe-murderer kind of way, but trickery nonetheless. Kind of like all those parents who say, "No honey -- the drop on Splash Mountain isn't that bad at all."

And just because YOU haven't met a best friend through a chance encounter at a restaurant certainly doesn't mean it's impossible.

 

[bwilcox]

If someone were to butt in to a private conversation I was having with the people sitting at my table, I would find that EXTREMELY rude, regardless of what was said. I can see talking to people around you in line, but a conversation at a table should be private! If you can hear what people around you are discussing, you should at least have the good manners to pretend you don't.

 

[rosiep]

Can you not see that you you are harshly blaming someone who appears to have meant well? A lot of us can empathize with that person.

While I feel bad that the OP feels attacked, I think this post is very astute.

 

[larryz]

Personally, I would have thanked the interloper -- more sushi for ME!