Pick Up The Toy!

[laundryhater]

My part-time job is working as a switchboard operator at a hospital.

The hospital has long hallways, most of them carpeted but there's a couple that are just tile.

I was walking in one of the long tiled hallways.

A mom pushing a stroller and her friend and friend's young son were walking toward me in the other hallway "lane".

The son was I'd say about 5 years old and scooting on the floor on his hands and knees pushing a toy car. Suddenly the boy pushes the toy as hard as he can sending it in my direction.

I saw the car coming my way and jumped out of the way to avoid tripping over it and gave the women a glare.

I'm 14 weeks pregnant and don't wish to trip and fall and hurt my baby.

It took all the restraint I had not to tell those women off!!

Who in their right mind lets their kid race cars down a hospital hallway where other people and possibly PATIENTS walk!!!

They said a weak "Sorry" but continued to let him race the car down the hall. Weren't too sorry or they would've picked up the toy!

I didn't acknowlege their weak apologies and continued to glare at them.

Seriously people!!! This is not your living room, go play with your toys somewhere else!

When I was little my mom taught me that you walk quietly in a hospital. If you must talk outside of the exam room, you whisper and you certainly don't run or play with toys in the hallway. Epic fail on that "mom's" part (I use the word "mom" loosely here because she wasn't acting like one).

[Aethian]

And in six years your going to remember to have your child pick up the toy after who knows who is in the hospital?

Kudos to you if you can, but they might have had a bit more on their mind then a child who is being happy.

[IEatCustomers4Breakfast]

And in six years your going to remember to have your child pick up the toy after who knows who is in the hospital?

Kudos to you if you can, but they might have had a bit more on their mind then a child who is being happy.

Good point, but people ARE still capable of having manners and instilling them in their children in the height of hospital turmoil.

Not parenting your children because grandpa is sick and mommy is sad could possibly teach them that it's okay to act like a little asshole if you can explain it away.

Or not... who's to say.

Also, having a little bit of manners could keep you from getting in trouble. What if laundryhater had fallen and something had happened to her baby? She'd have every right to sue that mom for not keeping a leash on her kid.

[Peppergirl]

And in six years your going to remember to have your child pick up the toy after who knows who is in the hospital?

Kudos to you if you can, but they might have had a bit more on their mind then a child who is being happy.

Are you saying this makes it ok? Because the mom may have been preoccupied?

I've been in hospital situations when my kids were that age, serious ones and was not always fortunate enough to always have a sitter. They would NEVER have been allowed to do that in a hospital, regardless of the situation. There are just too many things that can happen, as demostrated by the OP.

Granted, the kid was just being a kid but the parent or the adult should have had better control of the situation.

I personally don't blame the OP for not accepting the half-assed apology offered, especially when the child wasn't corrected or picked up.

The only place my kids were allowed a bit of freedom were in the designated, carpeted waiting areas for kids where they had toys.

[Aethian]

I'm not saying it's okay but I am saying that the OP should have said something if it bothered her that much. Maybe a little "Could you not have him do that? I don't want to trip." Sure the Mom could have acted sucky but it could have also brought her out of whatever mindset she was in and realize the kid was acting outside of set boundaries.

I'm not saying she should have accepted the appology but if the parent was truly out of it they may not have known the full situation and only seeing her kid playing with a truck, not that the kid could have caused harm to another.

People aren't going to know what bothers another person unless that person brings it up.

[Peppergirl]

I'm not saying it's okay but I am saying that the OP should have said something if it bothered her that much. Maybe a little "Could you not have him do that?

No disrespect, but the way you made it sound in your original post made it sound like you excused it, not that she should have spoken up. If I misunderstood, I apologize.

For what it's worht, I completely agree about saying something at that time. I certainly would have spoken up.

[Aethian]

No disrespect, but the way you made it sound in your original post made it sound like you excused it, not that she should have spoken up. If I misunderstood, I apologize.

For what it's worth, I completely agree about saying something at that time. I certainly would have spoken up.

I didn't word it clearly enough, no harm done as misunderstanding on your end and lack of clarity on my own.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I'm a horrible person.

Because I'd have kicked the toy out of the way and told that "Mom" to keep a closer rein on the kid and Kid's toys because if I found them out in the hall using it as a playpen again I'd have them ejected from the hospital.

But then I really rather hate kids currently (stop screaming in my store you brat). Dammit, who keeps taking my cheerios?? I didn't eat them all already......did I?

[tollbaby]

I don't see a whole lot of suck here. I see a distracted parent and a passive aggressive OP. Yeah, maybe the kid shouldn't have been playing with his car in the hallways, but mom was probably just grateful he was behaving. They did at least apologize, and it doesn't sound like this was in the bustle of the ER or Intensive Care units.

Quite frankly, I think the OP was ruder than the parents by simply glaring at strangers instead of speaking up for herself, and from the tone of the post, I think her anger was way out of proportion to the situation. OKay, so you're 14 months pregnant. You saw the car coming from a good ways and there was no danger of tripping over it. It was a kid being a kid. Going down the "What if this had happened" road isn't going to change anything, and not speaking up ensures that the parents see nothing wrong with what happened.

[CorDarei]

... OKay, so you're 14 months pregnant.....

i think you meant weeks... and looking at a quick google image search, being 3.5 months pregnant doesn't necessarliy mean you don't have the mobility to get out of the way of something quickly (don't most ppl just start showing @ 3 months?)

I take this post as more of a hormonal thing than true anger..

how big was the car btw?

[laundryhater]

Didn't say anything...

The reason I didn't say what was on my mind at the time was because I didn't want to get fired*. If that's passive agressive so be it...I still have my job.

*People's definition of the word "rude" has been skewed so much over the years that it doesn't even come close to the true meaning . Often times when I am stating the obvious to customers they tell me I'm being "rude" and threaten to report me. I wish they'd get a frickin dictionary already!!

I may have overreacted a bit but my protective mom instints just took over. Besides I have 2 close friends who recently miscarried and so I'm trying to be extra careful not to put baby at risk.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm dismayed there are people here who think the OP somehow did wrong and are making excuses for the parent.

A hospital hallway is not an appropriate place to play with a car like that, IMO. Not with nurses and patients and visitors being out and about.

If the kid wants to play with his toy, he can wait until he's in those lounge-like areas.

[Aethian]

I beleive she did wrong by not saying something like, "Mam could you have your son pick up the car?" Or "This really isn't a good place for him to be playing with that, someone might trip."

In turn to someone at least trying to say 'Sorry' she gave them the old cold shoulder and turned up her nose. She acted IMO very badly and if she was worried about her job could have at least said it nicely. What if someone down the hallway didn't see the car because their nose was in a chart and they got hurt. It could have come back to her and she could have lost her job anyways because of not stopping a dangerous situation before it become one more then what it was.

Sure she is worried about her three month old fetus (I say fetus because I don't beleive we were given a sex) but as a impending new Mother she could have done better. THAT is what I'm irked about.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

She could have handled it worse too. Her "protective mother" instinct could've caused her to tear the mother a new one verbally.

Plus, as she mentioned, some people equate being told "no" or asked to do something as "rude" and will make a federal case about it. Besides, it shouldn't be her job to make sure somebody else's kid picks his toy up.

Regardless, she handled the situation in her own way and I don't particularly see a problem with it. At least not one worthy of calling her rude or hormonal.

[protege]

The only place my kids were allowed a bit of freedom were in the designated, carpeted waiting areas for kids where they had toys.

When I was that age, I was in the hospital for some minor surgery. One of the play rooms, was literally in the hallway. If I remember correctly, the floor we were on was being remodeled, but not all of it was finished. There wasn't any construction equipment around, but the elevators in that little "lobby" weren't working (they were there, but didn't go anywhere). Floor was carpeted, TV's hanging from the ceiling, etc. but we were allowed to play there.