Shopper With Only One Item Refuses To Let A Mom & Baby Skip The Line But Gets An Earful From Another Customer
She says that she is tired of parents who believe they are entitled to unnecessary privileges just because they have children and others agree.
Kwame Amo / Grigvovan / Shutterstock via Canva Pro While in line to purchase a single item from a store, a customer was told that she “lacked empathy” after she refused to let a mother and her baby skip ahead of her in line. She claimed that she was tired of parents feeling entitled to unnecessary privileges just because they chose to have children.
Looking back, she is wondering if she should have just dealt with it and let the woman cut in front of her.
The shopper refused to let a mom and baby cut in front of her because she believes that they were not entitled to it.
Sharing her story to the Reddit forum, r/AmItheA-–hole (AITA), the woman sought the advice of other users regarding the situation.
She began her post by revealing that she recently took a trip to a store where the service was slow due to a lack of staff. There was only one register open with no self-checkout and all of the customers had to line up in front to purchase their items.
“[The] majority of them had full carts of items, but I on the other hand had only one item,” the woman wrote. Behind her in line was an elderly woman, a mother, and her baby. She overheard a problematic conversation taking place between them.
“The older lady started telling the mom to skip the queue and go to the front because she was with a child,” the customer shared. “I turned to her and asked her to speak for herself and that I do not agree that mom skips in front of me.”
An argument ensued between the woman and the elderly lady, where the woman claimed that the store did not give priority to mothers and children and had to wait their turn in line just like everyone else.
She added that if the mother felt differently, she shouldn't even be bringing the baby into the store with her.
The elderly woman snapped at the customer that she “lacked empathy” and that she will regret her decision. At this point, the woman chose to ignore the elderly lady and refrain from engaging in any more conversation with her.
However, she and the mother continued chatting within earshot of the woman, criticizing her behavior. “The mom then complained how she feels uncomfortable existing in a public space because of people like me,” the woman wrote.
She explained that she does not have an issue with children existing in public, although she does with mothers who think that they should have priority over everyone else in society because they have children.
“If the baby was screaming or she was carrying him in her hands or literally any reason but ‘I’m a mom so my time is more important than yours’ I would let her skip without a second thought,” the woman wrote. “I’m just tired of parents feeling entitled just because without any adequate reason.”
Redditors agreed with the woman for holding her ground and not letting the mom skip the line.
“Having a baby is not a sickness nor is it a disability. She can stay in line like everyone else does,” one user commented. “Some parents don't want to hear this but my time is just as valuable as yours,” another user pointed out.
Other users noted that since the woman only had one item, people should have let her skip the long line. As opposed to taking a lot of time to scan each item and bag it for customers who had full shopping carts, the woman’s transaction would only take a few seconds since she only had one item.
Some people believed that it was proper etiquette to allow customers with minimal items to have priority over those who have numerous items.
“The idea that someone with a full cart goes in front of someone with minimal items just because of kids would be met with confusion where I've lived,” one user revealed.
“If I have a cart full of items, I will always allow someone with just a few to go in front of me. I see it happen all the time in my local store,” another shared.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.