Why Can't People Put A Sock In It?

[artsyguy]

At the end of the day I think we all should be more concerned and caring.

[EnjoyTheSilence]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Okay. Last night we attended the confirmation of my nephew at his church. Admittedly, it was a long service, but my children were able to sit quietly throughout it.

Meanwhile, a woman in the pew immediately behind had three teenaged children with her. They were whispering throughout the first half of the ceremony. By that, I don't mean the occasional remark, but an ongoing 45-minute conversation complete with giggling and the whatnot.

Finally, I had had enough. I turned around and said, "I'm sorry, but you're being very rude. This is a church service." Of course, this met with an affronted look from the woman, but at least they shut up.

After the service, the woman tapped me on the shoulder and said how rude I was to her and her children. To which, I said, "You're right. But that's nothing compared to the ongoing conversation you were having, disturbing everyone around you." To that, she said, "Don't you tell me how to behave," to which I responded, "If you're going to disrupt a church service, I have every right to ask you to be quiet. If you can't control yourself for 90 minutes, then you should go sit in the cry room where you can babble to your hearts content."


Okay. I fully admit it was not my finest moment. I also fully admit that I made a bad situation even worse, and regret saying what I did. I certainly did not handle it well, particularly since it took place at a religious ceremony. So, I'm pretty much beating myself up over snapping like that. It's really unlike me.

That being said, what is it with people who think that they can walk into a church service, a movie theater, a musical performance, or any other event that requires listening and quiet from the audience or congregation, and yap away as if it were their living room? I mean are people so self-centered that they have to say whatever they want to whenever and wherever the thought occurs to them? What is the deal on this?

Personally, I applaud you for handling the situation well. Most people just stay silent, despite the fact that they may have been just as annoyed as you were.

I also cannot believe the audacity of the mother, having the nerve to tell YOU that you were being rude, yet she said nothing to her own children, during the 45+ minutes that they were severely disrupting a church service.

It's not rocket science to teach your children to behave properly in certain places, especially in church. Obviously, the mother had no respect for anyone else, neither did her teenage children, who should also know better by that age.

I don't go to church myself, but if I ever did, I'd be quiet and respectful and if I had children with me, I'd make sure they were quiet and respectful too....again, not rocket science.

[CHTransplant]

This article might be of interest in relation to this topic:

Today's tykes: Secure kids or rudest in history? - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Some excerpts:

Many experts say today’s kids are ruder than ever. And it may have something to do with popular parenting movements focusing on self-esteem

On paper, it doesn’t add up. After all, by many accounts Generation X may be the most devoted parents in American history. . . . Yet, their kids are, well, rude. It may be that today’s parents are so fixated on their children's emotional well-being that they’re teaching them that the well-being of others is comparatively unimportant.

“I see parents ferociously advocating for their children, responding with hostility to anyone they perceive as getting in the child's way — from a person whose dog snuffles inquiringly at a baby in a carriage, to a teacher or coach whom they perceive is slighting their child, to a poor, hapless doctor who cannot cure the common cold,” says Gordon. “There is a feeling that anything interfering with their kid's homeostasis, as they see it, is an inappropriate behavior to be fended off sharply.” Such defensiveness represents a radical departure from Gen X’s parental forebears, who, experts say, were more concerned about their children’s behavior toward others, rather than the other way around. But it also may highlight what makes many of today's parents tick, as a group — specifically, how they themselves grew up.