We all have those moments when, mid-rant, you realise that no one is on your side of the argument - and maybe you're getting irate over nothing. It's something that happens a lot on the internet, where we can share our stories with the security of anonymity in case we say something stupid or obviously wrong.
Still, that doesn't mean that it's not a kick in the butt when you realise that you were completely and utterly in the wrong - as this Redditor discovered recently.
Screaming and crying babies aren't really anyone's favourite thing. Whether you're the parent who has had to look after a distressed child, or simply a fellow passenger on a flight with a headache, it can get pretty annoying - but when he became irritated by a baby crying in a grocery store recently, this guy went way too far.
Taking to Reddit, the user asked "AITA for telling a woman with a baby crying in a store to not bring her baby the next time?"
"I went shopping in the grocery store, when a woman brought in a baby crying out loud from before she even stepped into the store. This kept going on and on for at least 5 minutes, at least until after I had left the store. All the other customers were visibly uncomfortable with it.
"Before I left the store, I passed by her and I told her that the next time she went to the store, she should not bring her baby. Leave it with the father, or keep in in the car. Am I the asshole for telling her that, or is she for bringing the baby in there."
Going further into his reasoning for criticising her, he added:
"Might add that both the father, and the mother gets 15 weeks of paid paternity leave + 16 weeks to the person they choose. And kindergarden isn't something that is unaffordable, as the price is adjusted for people with a low income. There are few reasons why she would have to bring the baby with her to a crowded store."
However, he didn't exactly get the response he wanted. In fact, of the hundreds that replied to the original post - which has since been deleted - most were very angry with him for what he did.
"You don’t know her circumstances," user ShreddedDaphy explained. "And she’s not gonna stop living because it inconveniences you. There might not be a dad at home, she might be a recent widow. And leaving a baby in the car? Alone? Are you stupid?"
"Love how he says everyone in the store was visibly upset, so it was his duty to step forward," another added. "Yeah everyone in that store with kids has been in that spot themselves!"
Other users pointed out that grocery stores are rarely silent places in the first place, making the crying baby a very minor addition to the usual noise. "I can guarantee you that the mother with the screaming kid was probably way more stressed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable than you were," one user concluded.
However, once it was clear that pretty much no one was on his side, the original user did admit to some faults. First, he acknowledged that it can be dangerous to leave babies alone in a car, and apologised for potentially offending anyone, before he revealed that he comes from Norway - where parents get leave of one year and there is no law against leaving a child in a car. Still, the important thing is that he did what very few people on the internet do, and admitted that he was wrong.
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