Kids are Nuisance

There are people who can't stand children, especially babies.

One day, ER reaching his kpo (inquisitive) fingers to give an old lady a tap on her shoulders before I could stop him in time. The old lady was terribly annoyed, glared at him, then at me. She was seriously offended, swept her shoulders continuously and went "choy" (the older generation usually reacts that way when they hear or encounter 'inauspicious' stuff).

Was my boy that disgusting?

Just a while ago, while mum and I were having lunch, ER starting whining because he was sleepy. I was patting him to make him sleep and mum noted another old lady glaring at us. They were seated at the table beside us. We then heard her complain to the 2 ladies who were with her that it was "so noisy, while looking at us from the corner of her eyes. I kept stealing glances at her while rocking ER and she didn't stop staring at ER in disgust.

And ER was just whining, not crying.

She reminded me of that bugger who commented on a forum years ago, that parents with strollers should just stay home with their kids because the walkways are not made for strollers, and pregnant women shouldn't be taking public transport and hope to have a seat.

Compare that with the lady at the next table when we went to Boston and AN was displaying her terrible 2 in public She walked over to give me a pat on the shoulder, smiled and assured me: "This will pass. She will behave as she grows." And we (the adults) at the table felt really embarrassed by AN then. I thought the lady approached me because she wanted me to take AN away.

Consideration and forbearance is a lacking virtue and I wish I don't have to say that it appears to be lacking among Singaporeans. 2 years in Tucson and I was never made to feel that babies equal nuisance, even when AN was at her worst outside home. Then again, friends from Tucson also said people from fast paced cities can also be impatient and less forbearing.

To end off, an elderly gentleman got tapped on his shoulder by ER on another occasion and I wasn't fast enough to react. I bit my lips, ready to receive another look of disgust for allowing ER to touch around. I assumed ladies regardless of age would be more forgiving towards babies coz of the maternal instinct or some female hormones that draws women to the young. If that elderly lady was soo offended, what more this elderly gentleman?

To my surprise, he gave a very wide smile to the little boy and took the hand that ER was waving near him! And he started teasing ER.Aww... We chatted for a while and he had to alight. Before he did, he commented that girls are better because "boys leave you when they are older."

Different walks of life, different views, different situation everyone goes through.