Saturday, August 16, 2014

Scene at the supermarket checkout

Recently, at the supermarket checkout: 

Me (pointing to tray of meat on the conveyor belt):  "Could you please wrap that up separately...?"

Clerk (nodding & smiling at me as she puts the meat into a separate plastic bag, and then into the reusable tote with the rest of the food):  "I know, hon... I'm a mom!"

(Me, thinking: "I'm NOT a mom, but I still thought of it. Should I NOT know this because I'm not a mom?  Is motherhood a prerequisite for knowledge of food safety practices? Shouldn't you know this because you handle food as part of your job?  Isn't it really just common sense?")   

Oy. :p 

10 comments:

  1. So, common sense only comes for some people after they've kicked someone out of their uterus? Or is she just pointing out that she stupidly would mix raw meat with her other groceries and one day it landed her kid in the hospital? Don't know, but what a strange response.

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  2. What a horrible and stupid comment.
    I hear it often as well. Also when least expected.
    Hugs.

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  3. I've had something like that happen to me too. Also, I think, at the supermarket. I find it very annoying!

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  4. *he he he* :-) This is a really nice everyday story showing that motherhood seems to be THE one and only super-expert-job for every topic in the wohle world ! Same effect if you are watching any kind of documentation, news etc.pp on (german) television or read an article in any magazin oder newspaper... If they interview for example one women about ...whatever... There is almost always one caption like "Anna M., 35, mother of 2 children". WTF ?
    *öhhhhm* well....thank you for that important information about Anna M. Now I know, why she knows everything about.....:-)
    (sorry for my bad english...)
    xoxo, Isa

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  5. A lovely colleague of mine who has no children (but would have loved them) said to me last year that she always thought that those of us who are mums are better teachers than those who aren't. It made me so sad because she is the kindest, most empathic teacher and 100% there for her pupils. Having got to 42 before I managed to have my son, I was able to tell her with great confidence that she had it totally the wrong way round - being a teacher made me a better mum but being a mum has probably made me a slightly less good teacher, as I have less time and energy to devote to my job. Common sense, caring, empathy and so many other qualities are absolutely NOT confined to mothers.

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  6. This must be universal stupidity because it has happened to me in NZ too. Funny (sad) that the majority of the comments seem to come from other women... I don't recall too many men making 'if you were a parent' type comments. I wonder if these comments come from really insecure women whose sole source of self esteem comes from mothering? or maybe just... stupid... J9

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  7. Well, in my opinion you ARE a mum.

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  8. Haha! That's a very bizarre comment. I don't see how that has anything to do with motherhood. Clearly though, only moms know all these logical every day information.

    It's so laughable.

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  9. I would have tilted my head to the side and said, "oooh, I knew that too because I'm a dragon." Actually, I'm kidding. I would have used a four-letter word instead of the word "dragon"...

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