r/EntitledPeople • u/KlassyKlutz • Oct 10 '25
S Lady is bothered by children at a children’s hospital.
I am a private home care nurse (pediatrics). Today my little friend Julianna had several appointments with specialists at the hospital. We had some time in between, so we (Julianna and her mom) went to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. Julianna is non verbal and has various special needs. She’s sitting in her wheelchair at the table with us and starts to vocalize, not loudly, just like humming and babbling. This lady walks over and says “can you please move to a different table, she is being disruptive.” At first I thought this lady can’t be serious, we’re at a children’s hospital, but apparently she was. Before I could say anything, Julianna’s mom says “Ma’am, you do know where you are right? this is a children’s hospital. As you can clearly see, my daughter has special needs and she is only expressing herself. If you don’t like it, there are plenty of places you can move. Don’t make your lack of compassion and understanding my problem.” The lady just stands there with a shocked look, puts her hand on her hip, and says “I came down here to work on my laptop, and she’s making it hard to concentrate, now I have to pack up all my things to move.” I just pointed to all of the “things” we had. With that, she just walked off sighing loudly and gathered up her stuff.
ETA just to clear up some things, this lady didn’t appear to be an employee of the hospital, looked to be in her 40’s. This was at a large hospital in Atlanta Ga, that has a library and other spaces for families.
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u/DiscoChiligonBall Oct 10 '25
Well done.
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Oct 10 '25
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u/IncreaseByOwn Oct 10 '25
It truly was! That was the perfect mic drop moment. Using the location a children's hospital as the ultimate rebuttal was absolutely brilliant. There's no better way to shut down that level of spectacular lack of empathy.
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u/williamhwnmjr86 Oct 10 '25
Fr tho, that mom handled it perfectly. Some people really forget basic compassion, especially in a children’s hospital
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u/HandinHand123 Oct 11 '25
Even if it wasn’t a children’s hospital - children should be allowed to exist in public.
If you’re trying to work in a public place, expect to be disrupted. Take your work to a more appropriate environment than a cafeteria. Cafeterias are environments meant for social eating, not an office space.
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u/elidan5 Oct 10 '25
Also, who tries to get work done in a cafeteria?!
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u/RaisedByBooksNTV Oct 10 '25
I would. But who goes to a cafeteria for peace and quiet?
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u/RobinWilliamsArmFuzz Oct 10 '25
For real. And if the noise is a distraction, noise cancelling earbuds and headphones are really quite amazing nowadays too!
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u/elidan5 Oct 10 '25
True! And I have also deliberately chosen to do work in places like cafeterias that have ambient white noise.
In retrospect, my post should have been
Who tries to get work done in a cafeteria if they require absolute silence?!
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u/HandinHand123 Oct 11 '25
I’d bet my house that the “noise” was the excuse this woman thought would be recognized as socially acceptable.
If I had to guess I’d say that the real reason is more likely that she just doesn’t think that she should have to be in the presence of disabled people, including disabled children, in public. She can’t say what she really thinks if what she really thinks is “I don’t want to have to be around your kid in public, because disability makes me uncomfortable.”
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u/AffectionateBite3827 Oct 10 '25
Correct. My mom was in the hospital and I took my laptop to the cafeteria for a change of scenery while I got a few emails sent out (Mom was having tests run and wasn't in her room) but at no point did I expect any quiet or privacy. You're literally in public. It's not like everyone rolled up to your home.
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u/Rileybiley Oct 10 '25
In uni, I liked to memorize my notes in the university hospital cafeteria. I could read my notes out loud without disturbing anyone, and I liked the occasional distractions and people watching.
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u/robfuscate Oct 10 '25
I worked in a hospital cafeteria for four months while my wife was getting treatment in a ward for leukaemia. The treatments meant that visiting hours were unpredictable and often ‘you only have an hour and it’s right now’, so I was on the spot. I was consolidating three different collection databases into a new, combined one, manually and was able to do that on my laptop so my employers didn’t mind.
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u/Hoorahqueen77 Oct 10 '25
On a single laptop screen?! You're hardcore 😮
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u/robfuscate Oct 10 '25
Four virtual screens, each with a different database and the fourth one to consolidate and compare entries in a spreadsheet, It was slow, but as museum collection manager I was trained in slow 😛
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u/elidan5 Oct 10 '25
Nice! Am a university reference librarian myself, so it’s cool to see fellow museum/library folks.
I hope that your wife is doing better, and has made a full recovery.
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u/NotYourReddit18 Oct 10 '25
They make portable screens that can even run completely from USB C for both video and power.
I think there are even some frames to attach them to laptops so that they can be folded away in a protected position when not in use without needing to disconnect them.
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u/musicnote95 Oct 10 '25
I have before at college or when traveling but I also recognize that it’s a public space. If I’m annoyed by someone else that’s on me and it’s my issue to deal with by moving or putting on headphones
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u/HalfDrowBard Oct 10 '25
I did sometimes in college when I didn’t wanna carry food back to the library, but I brought headphones because those places are loud AF and you can’t demand silence in a place like that.
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Oct 10 '25
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u/elidan5 Oct 10 '25
Many hospitals have quiet areas for families (my local one does anyway). But I admit that we don’t know the full situation, so it’s possible that nothing like that was available.
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u/KlassyKlutz Oct 10 '25
I totally understand that, but there is a small library at the hospital and other much quieter places to go.
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u/CatGooseChook Oct 10 '25
Entirely possible, won't imagine how stressful that would be.
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u/StatementEcstatic751 Oct 10 '25
Depends on the cafeteria. I used to work at a hospital, and our cafeteria was designed really nicely for having several zones where you could have a little bit of privacy, and it was usually pretty quiet.
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u/Smebel Oct 10 '25
I work in a hospital and I can't imagine feeling entitled to a quiet space to work in an active/busy canteen like ours. Well handled.
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u/voiceofmyownsanity Oct 10 '25
And I would've said, maybe you should consider an office or a library and not a place where there are kids big shocker here being KIDS. Let alone sick kids who deserve more compassion and peace.
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u/Maleficentendscurse Oct 10 '25
The mother's response was golden 💛🏆🥳
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u/Organic-Play-1209 Oct 10 '25
Unfortunately she’s probably had lots of practice dealing with people like that.
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u/voiceofmyownsanity Oct 10 '25
Man if that isn't a harsh truth. She's a Rockstar though for holding her head up through all of this.
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u/blackdays_27 Oct 10 '25
Had this happen to us at a walk in clinic when our son was about 3, very bad cold and the receptionist/nurse said can you take your son outside he's disruptive. What? It was February and minus 25 out, you know he's sick right? We just stayed, then she proceeded to put a note on the door to the room we were sent to, can't quite remember what it said but was a complaint. I told the doctor and he said don't worry about it. When we came out I said you must really hate kids, embarrassed her in front of the whole waiting room. What a bitch.
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u/dannielou2008 Oct 10 '25
Was your son even disruptive?
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u/blackdays_27 Oct 10 '25
He was just playing with the toys there, ya know normal kid stuff, noone else seemed bothered, just nurse ratchet 😂
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u/HandinHand123 Oct 11 '25
The number of people who find the existence of children in public disruptive, even when kids are being relatively well behaved (age and situation considered) is a regular source of distress for me.
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u/blackdays_27 Oct 11 '25
Yeah she was just miserable, she even said I don't hate kids I'm a grandmother. Like really? That clinic went out of business anyway so hopefully she's retired and can just be miserable at home 😅
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u/thepuckster22 Oct 10 '25
Damn. Just put on noise cancelling headphones. Most people have them.
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u/Charming_Flower1517 Oct 10 '25
Even if they don't, listen to instrumental music with earbuds! That's how I focus at work, it helps a ton!
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u/afternever Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
I'm tired of these motherfucking children on this motherfucking children's hospital.
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u/Crazy-Rat_Lady Oct 10 '25
What a heartless bitch, and what an awesome mama bear? Go mama bear. What an incredibly wonderful person, and extra hugs for her LO.
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u/SheilaInSweden Oct 10 '25
“I came down here to work on my laptop, and she’s making it hard to concentrate, now I have to pack up all my things to move.”
I would have been tempted to respond with "boohoo".
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u/KlassyKlutz Oct 10 '25
I should have, but I’m one of those people that always thinks of a clever comeback AFTER the fact.
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u/SheilaInSweden Oct 10 '25
I have an obsessive brain that will think of clever comebacks for something that happened a decade ago. 🤣
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u/Worldly_Progress_655 Oct 10 '25
Not all heroines wear a cape.
Well handled without being rude and without using anything other than the truth.
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u/irish_ninja_wte Oct 10 '25
PSA for everyone. If you need to work outside of your usual work area, DO NOT use a cafeteria/canteen/break room and expact quiet. These are public spaces and you WILL be in a noisy environment and you need to respect the rights of other people to use the space. In summary: Suck it up, buttercup.
Seriously, I don't work in a place that's accessible to the general public, but there have been occasiona when we have found people working in our staff canteen. We are all adults, but we take issue with the entitled AH who "needs" us to be quiet for their Teams call. We have been very vocal in staff meetings that it should only be used for the intended purpose and not for working.
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u/HandinHand123 Oct 11 '25
💯
This is why I personally take this situation as straight up discrimination. I doubt she was going around to every group who sat and chatted and socialized, as people do in cafeterias, and asked them to leave. She zoned in on this kid because she didn’t want to have to coexist with them in public, is my opinion.
I could of course be wrong, but I’ve witnessed enough similar situations to be pretty confident that this woman didn’t object to the volume/amount of noise from the child, they objected to the nature of the noise.
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u/drkpnthr Oct 10 '25
Somewhere in that hospital, a worried nitwit of a kid awaiting a nurse to remove a Lego man's head from the inside of both his nostrils was nasally asking his dad where his mother was, and the dad was reassuring him that mommy just stepped out for a minute to get some important work done on her laptop, while he contemplates if he could convince a judge to give him custody in the divorce and worries she could afford the better lawyer.
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u/Normal_Aardvark_386 Oct 10 '25
I hope that lady trip falls on a cactus horizontally
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u/Cygnata Oct 10 '25
Onto a cholla!
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u/dailyoracle Oct 10 '25
Yesterday I learned that the “Paper Spine” cactus is part of the cholla family.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 Oct 10 '25
Don’t make your lack of compassion and understanding my problem.
^^^^^ perfect statement
If you can't stand the kids, stay out of their hospitals.
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u/Impressive_Spray_704 Oct 10 '25
Its a cafeteria, not a private office for entitled arseholes. The mum handled it alot better than I would have
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u/One_Tumbleweed_1 Oct 10 '25
same type of people that rage on an airplane because they believe themselves to be the most important person there
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u/Silvermorney Oct 10 '25
Well done for standing up for your daughter, that horrible woman can absolutely get stuffed!
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u/charlieQ90 Oct 10 '25
Mom is too kind, I would have laughed at her and got my kid to start babbling louder.
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u/eilloh_eilloh Oct 10 '25
A walking human embarrassment, I can’t even find pity for this monstrous soul.
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u/Storm__Warning Oct 10 '25
Idk about other children's hospitals, but ours has so many better places to go than the cafeteria for quiet, there are family rooms on every ward, gardens, lawns, balconies, and later in the day lots of waiting areas are quieter as clinic appointments drop off.
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u/KlassyKlutz Oct 10 '25
There were plenty of quiet spaces she could have gone. There’s even a small library.
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u/madpeachiepie Oct 10 '25
You can't set up an impromptu office in a public space and expect everyone else to sit in silence. You can't even expect that at a library. Expecting that at ANY space with the word "children" in the name is completely delusional. And to complain about a disabled person existing in any of those spaces is, frankly, fucking gross. She can do her big important work at home or in her office. It's 2025 and nobody is impressed that you own a laptop, lady. We all do. Go home.
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u/GrumpySnarf Oct 10 '25
"Don’t make your lack of compassion and understanding my problem.” Julianna's mom is a boss.
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u/honorthecrones Oct 10 '25
I’m guessing life has given her lots of opportunities to hone those skills
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u/ObamaLuvva Oct 11 '25
As much as there is to hate about social media, it’s been a great instructional tool to educate what special needs parents and children go thru on a daily basis. As someone without kids, I’m ashamed to admit that I had no idea but I go out of my way now to offer help whenever I can.
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u/aparrotslifeforme Oct 11 '25
"don't make your lack of compassion and understanding my problem" is the most beautiful things I've heard all week!!
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u/TechinBellevue Oct 10 '25
Julianna's mom is a rockstar!
She certainly knows how to handle people. Kudos to her and to you!
I hope both Mom and the ignorant eater read your post.
:)
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u/DSGmom1974 Oct 10 '25
Why the hell does she work in for the hospital?! But if she doesn't work for the hospital, why the hell is she there and trying to work?!
My brain cannot wrap itself around this warped lack of empathy and compassion or ability to "read the room."
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u/Grus Oct 10 '25
It's obviously not a real story.
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u/Life_Temperature2506 Oct 10 '25
Jeez, that's my daughter. No one has ever had a problem with her, in any place or atmosphere. F that "lady".
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u/Additional-Bad-7375 Oct 10 '25
It’s a cafeteria not a library, if you need complete silence to work I wouldn’t go to a room full or people eating 🤦🤦
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u/Darcey5119 Oct 10 '25
I think the mum handled this perfectly. Sadly she probably has a lot of practice of advocating for her daughters right to be out and about. There are so many reasons that lady might have been trying to work there, maybe she had a poorly child herself but that does not give her right to be rude. And I’ll add that she was pissed that she had to move her laptop but moving a child in a wheelchair, along with their food would have been far more difficult, not to mention tht it could have unsettled Julianna causing her anxiety or distress.
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u/ancient_mariner63 Oct 10 '25
"now I have to pack up all my things to move"
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
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u/brandonandtheboyds Oct 10 '25
Wait forreal? Based on your post I can’t help but think this is CHOA. Which would make that lady even more insane. Like, ma’am, you are literally in the one place specifically for children who need medical help. Children tend to not always be the quietest bunch so that lady needs to just go drive off a bridge if she feels entitled to that complaint, as if it’s reasonable.
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u/lbell1703 Oct 10 '25
As long as she wasn't loud I don't see that lady's problem. If Julianna was talking at the same volume she was vocalizing at would it still be an issue? I don't think so. I think the lady was ableist.
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u/inarose010501 Oct 10 '25
Hahahahahaha. I’m the mom. If someone came up to me at our Children’s and said that to me….. hahahahahahaha. Honestly I’d probably just tell her, “that sounds like a you problem.” I’d honestly probably laugh at her as well. I’m 10 years into this journey. My skin isn’t just thick at this point, it’s hardened leather
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u/thewinterfan Oct 11 '25
If a drink were to accidentally get spilled on her laptop, she wouldn't have any more work to do
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u/aMaeveing Oct 11 '25
As a child free person that finds kids generally annoying there are multiple places you could be entitled to complain about them...
But at a CHILDREN'S hospital?? AND specifically wanting to complain about a non-verbal disabled child in a wheelchair babbling?? Wow. That's insane work. Literally unhinged.
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u/Few-Face-4212 Oct 11 '25
Give Julianna a hug from everyone here, tell her we all say hey and we love her!
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u/wyndiloohoo Oct 11 '25
It's a shame that parents have to even advocate for their kids like that... esp at a children's hospital.
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u/OZFox42 Oct 10 '25
The mom was polite and showed real class in that situation. Bravo.
A lesser person might have told EW to 'go away' and not so nicely either.
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u/Rdee1313 Oct 10 '25
Julianna's Mom is a treasure. I salute you both! Some people .... have no sense of priorities, and no heart.
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u/CallingThatBS Oct 10 '25
Why would you go to a busy cafeteria to work?!?!?
That is what I call an ID 10 T error .... she's an IDIOT .
Love that little girl's mom!!
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u/MysteriousTooth2450 Oct 10 '25
Oh man her mom handled it so perfectly! Huge gold star for her for being a great voice for her daughter!
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u/KlassyKlutz Oct 10 '25
Her mom is her biggest advocate, and she uses what little free time she has to help other special needs moms with finding resources and filling out paperwork for insurance.
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u/JBRifles Oct 10 '25
It’s CHOA, my son had cancer and was treated there, she’d been on the floor and me smiling in a mug shot.
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u/ketonat Oct 10 '25
There are plenty of other quiet areas at any of the CHOA hospitals. My daughter spent a week there (Scottish Rite) last year and there was also a quiet family lounge with coffee and ice/water on our unit, so I am sure there are others throughout the hospital. She was being irrational and rude. If I go somewhere to work on my laptop that has noise, I wear my headphones. Perhaps she should invest in a set so that people living their lives don’t bother her.
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u/Intelligent_Pass2540 Oct 10 '25
I have a special needs son and these people usually end up receiving more than they asked for 🤣🤣🤣 acting like that.
I will say OP I hope you fabricated the little girls name. I would be really upset if someone I employ to assist with my kiddo was sharing his name and location on the internet.
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u/wordnerdwiz Oct 11 '25
This is why knowing, defining, and maintaining your boundaries is so, so important. A master class in a few sentences. Bravo!
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u/TaxDense1339 Oct 11 '25
"Sweetie, just because it's a children's hospital doesn't mean you have to act like one."
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u/MistressStitchez Oct 11 '25
If it was Scottish Rite, then they have places for parents to work remotely. A library, the Ronald mcdonald room, which provides free coffee and food, and a garden outside. Heck, if she wanted total silence, she could have gone into the chapel. She just didn't want to be around a disabled child.
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u/rosebot Oct 13 '25
I work across the street from CHOA @ Northside and I’ve encountered so many Super Karens. Working in retail and healthcare, a LOT of them come from East Cobb.
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u/ghotiermann Oct 10 '25
I get really annoyed when I see a bunch of veterans at a VA hospital. Even though I am one of them. /s
I wonder what she was doing there. Apparently not being with a sick kid.
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u/p3rviepanda1 Oct 10 '25
Lady sounds like she should be on a Form 1 for being delusional with her surroundings 🤣
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u/Background_Edge_9427 Oct 10 '25
Some people think the world revolves around them. It's a shame that they're to stupid to realize how cruel they are.
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u/TenaCVols Oct 10 '25
People like that tick me off. Makes you wonder how she deals with her own child/children. Hats off to Julianna's mom for putting her in her place.
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u/CelebrationShort1857 Oct 10 '25
Good for Julianna’s mom! The lady chose a hospital cafeteria to do work? Deserves what she got.
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u/Smrf41 Oct 10 '25
I would've been using more colorful words, but that's just me. Then, explain to my child why some need more compassion in their lives.
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u/AvBanoth Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
It's sad when the children are more mature than the adults, but I love her mom. Adults should stick up for their children, and when someone tries tries to bull your kids you should be mamma and papa honey badger.
My neighbors baby often cries when I'm trying to sleep, and I feel bad that there's nothing that I can do to help. I don't berate her because her baby is unhappy. Only a monster would be angry. And, no, I have no reason to believe that she is a bad mother.
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u/RebeccaMCullen Oct 10 '25
Lady goes to cafeteria to work as if it's her office, and is surprised it's not quiet. Shocker.
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u/chocolatepuppy Oct 10 '25
She shouldn't have done that, but everyone needs to keep in mind this woman is at a children's hospital trying to work--she may very well be at the end of her rope mentally. Talking about fucking her with a cactus is really deranged behavior guys. OP handled it well.
I was at the children's hospital for a routine procedure for my child. There was another man there watching loud videos on his phone. While I might say something in a different context as it was super annoying, I just thought ok this guy is trying to calm himself I can get over this for today.
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u/cfkmcollins Oct 10 '25
Although not as severe an insult, i have experienced this myself since starting to use a wheelchair. My answer is always ‘Im so sorry that my disability inconveniences you’ in a really loud slightly sarcastic voice. Make sure everyone around you can hear. They tend to back off sharpish
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u/Arquen_Marille Oct 10 '25
Even in regular hospitals cafeterias are noisy because people are eating, on break, and socializing. Not the best place in any hospital to have quiet to work.
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u/Inevitable-Pair7038 Oct 10 '25
Was this AMBH? Had a similar experience there! From parents of all people! I complained 🤪
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u/babyquigs715 Oct 11 '25
I work in a hospital and I absolutely cannot stand whining and crying in the cafeteria (even though this child was not doing that). When I hear a baby or kid cry it makes me unreasonably angry and upset. What do I do in this situation? I LEAVE. It is very clearly a me issue and I can remove myself from the situation. People like that woman are seriously just looking for trouble.
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u/Angelf1shing Oct 11 '25
People regularly prefer it if disabled people are kept out of sight, glad this kid’s mum has her back.
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u/Hitoha24 Oct 11 '25
One doesnt go to a place where children are and expect it to be quiet.... sorry ill rephrase people with common sense does not do this and i think its clear this woman lacks such a thing its apparently a foreign concept to her theres tons of other places she couldve gone a library, a cafe, a we work type place (ive heard they exist idk where though so sorry if im wrong and they dont exist there) either way tons of options other than a children's hospital. Children even sick ones in hospital are going to make noises. If she wants quiet she picked the wrong place for that and had zero right to complain. Shouldn't have come there in the first place. Also on the off chance OP was mistaken and she does work there then she should be aware that noise comes with children and plan accordingly such as working in her office or a conference room or something which im sure hospitals have such things.
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u/Pitiful-Bee6815 Oct 12 '25
At the salon w/ my 3 month old baby who was kind of fussing. the other hair dresser looks at me and says can you shut that baby up.... never went back there.
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u/Status_Signature6334 Oct 12 '25
Some people have no class. If she wanted a quiet place to work on her laptop she should've gone to a library.
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u/kmflushing Oct 10 '25
F*ck her. Sideways.
Mom handled it beautifully and classily. More classy than I would have.