Some people!

My brother-in-law and his long-time girlfriend graduated from high school yesterday, so it was a pretty big day for the family. We were all very excited, of course. My sister-in-law and I sat together at graduation and we were talking and laughing a bit when this bossy old lady turns around and tells us, "Be quiet, please." I apologized and she just continued to look directly at me and said it again in a very patronizing way and just stared coldly at me. I apologized again, thinking that we may have been a bit animated - nevermind that the ceremony hadn't actually started yet! I was only mildly annoyed, but as the ceremony progressed I got more and more angry. She and her family would chatter away, but anytime someone behind her said a word, she would try to get their attention to shush them. She actually attempted to censure my father-in-law, which really made me mad. Then, to top off this woman's rudeness - after her granddaughter or whatever got her diploma, she and her family got up and left! The auditorium was packed, so a lot of people had to move to make way for them. It was all just unbelievable.

Meanwhile, the family is getting quite a laugh out of the fact that I am the one who got shushed. They are a rather boisterious bunch, but I am very quiet and shy - and as I'm 30 years old and have been teaching for the past year, I'm usually the one doing the shushing. Ha!

Anyway, enough of my ranting. I've just never been treated like that before - at least not since I was 3 years old! I wish I weren't so polite and had just stared back at her to make her as uncomfortable as she was making me. Ah well. Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday!!

I wouldn't have apologised since the ceremony hadn't even started yet. I would have just continued talking. I would have tapped her on the shoulder when they were noisy and told THEM to be quiet.

And I am the quiet one! But I hate rudeness like that.

How would you have liked to handle the situation if you had it do over again?

Originally Posted by cococat

How would you have liked to handle the situation if you had it do over again?

Click to expand...

You know, what I really wish I had done?! The first time that she started talking to someone...or when she shot evil looks at my father-in-law, I wish I had got out of my seat and crouched down in froggy position behind her and just stared at her. Not close enough to touch her, but close enough to really bother her. I do yoga so I could have done that for the full 3 hours if it meant that I could really annoy her. Oh, and when she said something to me about it, as she would inevitably, I would say something like, "Sorry. I have to sit like this when I have gas." That would have been most gratifying! Bwa ha ha! I hate that I just sat there like a chastised child the remainder of the ceremony. I'm such a wimp!

People and how they act at different ceremonies. Ugh.

Dd's dance recital was last night. This studio is HUGE, has 2 shows. 1st show has all of the "tiny people" as my oldest dd calls them Itty bitty ballerinas from age 3- 5th grade. And the tiny kids are on first.

Well, we sat on the end. My oldest had the 1st dance (5th grade), then she didn't have to anything until after intermission. Dh chose 4 seats on the end. I was on the end b/c I have to go get dd when she was done. I hate having to step over people over and over again.


Otherwise, she's running around the dressing room (ie high school gymnasium) with 100 or so other kids. I just couldn't see it. I know most of the kids are tiny, but they like having people watch what they do too. It's something I've tried to teach both of my kids. And it wound up that we knew a whole bunch of the little kids dancing. A couple were friends, and a couple of kids I had in my Sparkies Awana class.

This family comes in. 7 people total. It was about 15 minutes before the 1st show and the auditorium was PACKED. Because the little kids are in it. Well, this one elderly gentlman and his wife got REALLY upset b/c there were a bunch of saved seats. So they couldn't all sit together. There weren't 7 seats together. One of them was for my dd. He made a nasty comment about saved seats, and it took my husband and another person to tell him that they're saved for the kids that are dancing (sigh).

He was still mad. And you know what? They left BEFORE intermission (sigh). Meanwhile, we were there for the entire 3.5 hour show, AND the 1st dance of the second show b/c dd opened that show too.

Just a very long night. And I've seen far worse behavior at recitals than this.

Scares me to think what behavior's going to be like in another 4 years when I'm sitting through dd's high school graduation.

If I were you I wouldn't have apologised, especially if it hadn't started yet! I would have told her to shut up aswell!

Mind you, I'm a really shy person, so I probably would end up just sat there, shushed. lol