"Thinking she was being courteous, I smiled and said, Yes, please! Her response caught me off guard: She said, Use your words. I froze, shocked, because this is the exact phrase my dad used with me as a child. She repeated, Use your words. Miss Manners, I am a grown woman in my mid-30s who was being talked down to like a child. So my smile faded and I said, You're not my mom, then walked past her."
"Literally any other way. It is hard to take your argument seriously that you are a grown woman and not a child when you just threw a tantrum in a grocery store. Miss Manners grants you that the other shopper started it. But being an adult means not taking the bait when someone else is rude to you. And yelling You are not my mom! is not the rousing argument you thought it was."
A shopper in her mid-30s recounts being told "Use your words" by an older woman in a narrow store aisle, reacting angrily and exchanging insults. Advice emphasizes that retaliatory outbursts undermine an adult's dignity and that not taking the bait preserves composure. Recommended responses include a brief, controlled remark such as "Thank you for moving" or simply ignoring the admonishment to avoid escalation. A separate account concerns a lent cardigan returned washed and ruined, with the borrower offering to pay and the lender asking what standard laundry etiquette should be in such situations.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]