She Warned Her Elderly Parents to Watch Their Step on a Cruise Ship—And an Uninvolved Stranger Inserted Themselves to Reprimand Her
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It’s a fact of life…
Some people truly don’t know how to mind their own business!
And when it comes to family matters, I’ve found that it’s a good idea to stay out of things that don’t involve you, unless someone asks for your opinion, of course.
Check out what this woman had to say about a stranger on a cruise ship who decided to stick her nose into her family’s business.
AITA for trying to make my parents more aware of their surroundings?
“I am on a cruise with my older parents. They are slower than I am, so I find myself stopping to wait for them often. Which is absolutely fine.
However, that means I’m watching them approach me a lot. And I’ve observed them constantly stopping in the middle of walkways, blocking the people behind them.
This is pretty common with older folks…
For example, just now as we were approaching the elevator and after watching my mom block a man who was trying to pass her (it was a whole thing, LOL).
She blocked him, he tried to go around her, she kinda drifted to the side and blocked his attempts to pass and then he was cornered and just waiting for her to move. I gestured for her to move to the side for him to pass, and he even gave me a half laugh/half smile and said thanks as he finally passed her.
So because this is happening constantly, as we approached the elevator to wait for it, I finally turned to my parents and said: “I’m not trying to be rude by gesturing for you to move aside. I just want you to be aware that you’re not the only person on the ship. Doesn’t it drive you nuts when you’re behind someone who suddenly stops and blocks you?” and my mom started to nod and suddenly, the woman (older than me, younger than my parents) said “leave them alone.”
So I turned to her, not sure if she was even talking to me and when I saw she was, I assumed she thought I was saying this to random strangers, so I said “oh, no, they’re my parents.”
Huh?
She said “yeah, and leave them alone. Walk AROUND them.”
And I told her again, because my slow brain still thought she must’ve thought I was trying to teach random people something, said again: “no, they’re my parents. I know them. I’m just trying to help-“ and she cut me off to again say “yeah, LEAVE THEM ALONE. WALK AROUND THEM.”
Mind your own business!
And I was just SO genuinely baffled by this (a stranger randomly butting in to my conversation to tell me to leave my parents alone) that all I could do was dumbly stare at her in a “really? Are you serious? Is this really happening right now?” kind of way.
I think I even said: “really?” To which she gave me this nasty look and made a face, and my dad started kinda nudging me along to move away from her, so as we were walking away I said “thanks, you were REALLY helpful.” in a snotty tone.
(I know, real intelligent of me. -.- After the fact now, I can think of a million things I wish I’d said.)
So who is wrong here?
Me for trying to make my parents be aware of their surroundings and more considerate of other people?
Or her for thinking she’s playing the hero for my parents by butting into a strangers conversation and offering unsolicited advice?”
Reddit users shared their thoughts.
This person said they’re NTA.
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Another reader agreed.
This Reddit user shared their thoughts.
Another individual weighed in.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who can’t complete her work-from-home duties because her mom’s houseguest won’t stop talking.
And this person spoke up.
Jeez, this was pretty rude.
Family affairs should stay in the family!
This stranger should’ve minded her own business…
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