A mum was admonished in the street after making a simple gesture with her hands when walking past a group of noisy children.
The mum was walking back from dropping her children off at school but wasn't feeling "100%" after getting over a cold, and still had a "slight headache". She passed a group of boys who "gave particularly loud screams and shrieks" so she tried to discreetly cover her ears.
In a bid to avoid being obvious or potentially offensive, she held her ears in the "most unnoticeable way" and ensured her elbows were tucked in so they weren't protruding. But one of the boys' mums still saw her and approached, and then told her off in the middle of the street.
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The mum was accused of being "rude" by blocking her ears, but the woman "stormed off" before she could defend herself. Taking to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable (AIBU) thread, the mum sought advice and reassurance on whether or not she was behaving rudely by covering her ears to block the boys' shrieks and screams.
She titled her post "AIBU to think I was not rude?" and penned: "School run this morning, I was walking back home after dropping DC [dear children] at school. I am recovering from a cold and still not 100%, with a slight headache. I was walking past a group of boys who gave particularly loud screams and shrieks, so I held my ears because loud noises make my headache worse. I did try to hold my ears in a most unnoticeable way, lowering my head and just gently holding my fingertips at my ears, while holding my elbows to my body so they don't stick out! In other words, I wasn't trying to show off how annoyed I am, just rather minding my own business and trying to get past this group of boys quickly.
"A woman then approached me (presumably one of the mums?) and said to me: 'Your behaviour is really rude, they're just children you know!', and then stormed off before I could manage a reply. Obviously I wasn't going to shout anything after her but it did leave me annoyed being told off for nothing. I actually think it is her who was being rude, not me. What do you think?"
Fellow Mumsnet users were keen to share their thoughts on the situation, with some siding with the mum and others with the woman who told her off. One said: "I think that would appear rude to most people. But as you don’t even know who the woman was I wouldn’t worry about it".
Another suggested: "I think you weren't as discreet as you thought you were." To which, the mum replied: "I might not have been, but since when holding your ears at a noise warrants a telling off by a random member of the public??"
A third said: "You were not being rude. Just ignore her."
Another Mumsnet user commented: "I think the woman who spoke to you was rude. Adults don't get to police other random adults' behaviour unless it's harmful (which holding ears isn't)".
A fifth said: "You weren't rude at all. If I saw you do this I'd assume you had a headache or maybe sensory issues and didn't like loud noises. If I was the mother of one of the boys I'd apologise for the noise."
Another agreed and said: "It’s fine to block your ears at a loud noise - some people are more sensitive to noise. I don’t think it’s rude."
But one Mumsnet user commented: "Most people acknowledge covering your ears is a rude gesture. But woman was still wrong to pull you up on it. So both a bit on the impolite side I would say." To which, someone else replied: "Do they? I genuinely have never encountered a single person who found ear-covering to be "rude". It is a gesture of self-protection, nothing more."
While another said: "If my kids were screeching and shrieking in the street to the extent it made someone feel the need to cover their ears, I'd be telling off my children not the person they had annoyed."
And another added: "The woman is a d***. She should mind her own business and find something better to do. I wouldn't have even done it discreetly!! [They] were making a racket, it sounded awful and you didn't want to listen to it. End of story".
At the time of writing, 80% of Mumsnet users voted the mum was not being rude or unreasonable by covering her ears.
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