Outrageous ageism at the toddler singalong!!

Talk about hassling anybody!

I think you should stop picking on elena. I would have started a thread if it had happened to me. How elena reacted at the time is quite beside the point.

I was just thinking the same, GT

I really don't know why you bothered to start this thread.

Of course I mentioned it to my DD - the whole family know about it

No, I am not going to ring up (and 'right now' the shop is shut, Faye!).

The moment has passed. I think what he did was outrageous, but I am not outraged, or not sufficiently, to make a phone call 4 days later about it.

So shoot me

I cannot see any harm in giving them a ring and saying what you think. It may be that others have also done so.

If you didn't speak up at the time you can always phone the book shop right now elena. Please don't leave it for another time.

I find supposed humour which is a put down against anyone (ageism, racism, sexism) offensive. If and when you speak to this person, don't let him tell you it was just a joke.

As you say it wasn't the regular person, maybe he felt ill at ease doing it, hence his remarks to the adults and that stupid verse.
Not an excuse, just a possible reason.
Have you mentioned it to your DD?

I don't think it is harmless, either, though I do believe it was sung without real malice - it was thoughtless rather than harmless. It is certainly outrageous, and I have been telling everyone in real life about it, and watching their jaws drop! Happily, people who know me know I am not prone to making up stupid stories, and I am believed

I live 300 mls away from dd, sil and dgs, so we don't see them often - returning to the bookshop for the singalong session (it's a regular fixture) may well be on the cards in a couple of months, but I'm not in a position to be certain of doing that. DD may want me to take him swimming or something, or if it's a nice day, go somewhere outdoors.

If I do go back, I will report on what happens....and if the verse is sung again, I def will say something.

Really?

How do we report them?

It is so not harmless!

I see this is billed on the GN homepage as "outrageous, but harmless, ageism".

No ageism (or racism, sexism, etc) is harmless.

My reaction would probably have been the same as Elena's - I don't think that I would have said anything at the time. Like her, I can see the intended humour as well as its inappropriateness, so I would have wanted to give myself time to think about it first to make sure that I wasn't about to go over the top. Having done that, I'm sure that I would have arrived at the conclusion that something needed to be said

I personally would make a point of going to the group again as soon as possible. I would say straight away to the person in question that I hoped he wasn't going to repeat that verse again, as it really wasn't very appropriate. It could be said in a light-hearted manner, but in such a way that the message is received loud and clear.

I really don't like confrontation, particularly in such a public setting, so that would be my preferred way of dealing with that incident. If it happened again after that though, my response would be very different!

Ana - my apologies - completely clear to me now. I was, regrettably, under the influence of one too many vinos at the time and clearly didn't read the post properly. Must remember NOT to post when indulging. Thanks for pointing it out!!

Are you sure the organiser wasn't Jeremy Clarkson? He made a similar comment on "Who do you think you are" about the fact that his mum was doing OK so far and not smelling of wee yet.

That was several years ago but for me it summed up his total bad attitude to others. This presenter sounds as utterly obnoxious as well.

I do agree with FarNorth that it's not easy to respond appropriately in these circumstances. It's been easy for all of us, with time to frame our responses, to say "Oh I would have said this / done that". But would we? I mean, would we have thought of it there and then? Quite probably not - we'd have thought of it when we got home, or on the way home. We would have said, "THAT'S what I should have said! God, I wish I'd thought of that at the time!"

But, I think I can say hand on heart that, having thought of what I should have said, I would have gone back to the shop and said it. I would definitely have given the fellow a bit of a dressing down.

elena I would have spoken up there and then and told him the children do not need to be taught rubbish like that.

That's one thing I like about being older, I don't hold back!

It's hard to think what to do when taken by surprise like that.
I think it'd still be worth having a word with whoever does usually run the session then it's up to them if they do anything about it.

How nice if some of the kiddies later had a chat with their granny about smelling of wee!

Good for you, merlot.

Calm, dignified and gentle???

I'd have given him a knuckle sandwich.

I would have been very annoyed ! and said something . You can't teach children things like that !

I think that version of the song is outrageous. Another thing that annoys me are the Tena Lady products being advertised on tv. It says "laugh all you want". As if the average lady can't laugh without wetting herself. It really bugs me.

Sounds as if he was an ignorant stupid man.Hard to believe that nobody complained though.

No dealing with them, ta! I should have made a calm, dignified and gentle comment at the time. The moment has passed. If it happens again, I will say something. But they don't deserve a 'monstering' on Twitter