Some people believe their curiosity outweighs the importance of personal boundaries.

So, what would you do if a stranger kept prying into a loved one’s personal medical details, ignoring all social cues to mind their own business? Would you politely deflect? Or would you make it clear that their questions were completely out of line?

In the following story, one woman finds herself in this exact situation when an older lady refuses to stop asking about her nephew’s medical history. Here’s the story.

AITA for raising my voice at an older woman

I was looking after my nephew, Little, over the weekend. Little, aged 4, has a severe speech delay and some gait issues and comes across as a lot younger than he is, though he does look around 4-5 years old.

We (me, my pre-teen daughter, and Little) went out to the park. Walking the opposite way on the same path was an older woman, maybe 65, and a small dog, which Little wanted to pet. I asked the woman, and she said it was okay.

Little petted the dog and babbled to it, with the woman saying, “Oh bless him” several times and “Oh, isn’t he sweet?” I made agreeing noises, and after about 30 seconds, Little stopped petting the dog and wanted to keep walking, so we moved on.

I thought it was just a quick meeting but the woman then started walking the same way as us, asking questions about Little. I didn’t really answer as I thought it was a bit odd and personal.

Here’s where she crossed the line.

Her first question was, “What’s wrong with him?” I didn’t answer, but I did say he was 4 when she asked his age. She then kept pestering, asking, “What’s wrong with him?” and “Why doesn’t he speak clearly yet?” After she asked a few times, I snapped, “I’ll tell you his confidential medical history if you tell me yours!”

The woman seemed very taken aback, called me rude, and turned around to go back in the direction she was originally going. I think she was the rude one, coming across a child with a difference and then changing direction to ask what the child’s diagnosis was.

My daughter thinks she was maybe just ‘of her time’ and maybe just didn’t realise she was being insensitive.

Saying Little doesn’t have a diagnosis wouldn’t have hurt, or I could have at least explained why her question was inappropriate rather than snapping at her.

AITA?

Wow! Talk about prying!

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about people like this.

Great thoughts.

As this person points out, she ruined a completely good moment.

Here’s someone the lady’s age.

This person is not wrong.

That lady needs to learn some manners.

Just because he can’t speak doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand.

She could’ve hurt his feelings and done some real damage.

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