@twiglet, I would just forget about it. He's clearly a grump, but what could have sparked him off was being made to look silly in a tram full of people. Personally I'd be mortified if I became the centre of attention in a packed Basel tram, since I still can't speak the language.
Umm, no, you're misrepresenting what I'm saying. Hitler = rogue leader that killed millions of people and attacked other countries. Things I mentioned = parts of other cultures, integral parts of other cultures, that are fully "legal" and "civilized" based on their standards and laws. Based on what tanuja said, no cultures are "uncivilized" and it would be politically incorrect to treat them as such. I'm giving examples to explain why I think this is not always the case and that political correctness can go too far. I said it was off-topic, thus, not meant to necessarily make sense in the context of this thread (old men threatening children). I know sometimes it's too tempting to bust out a zinger without fully trying to comprehend what a person is trying to say, but just try.
No Shorrick you have that all wrong. A grown Frenchman against a 3 year old girl....those odds are to short for the French to get into a conflict....unless he thought the poor girl had truffles in her pocket
I agree that parents have to teach their children appropriate behaviour, but to say that a 3-year-old is old enough to understand and internalise the rules of proper behaviour in every situation is a bit too inflexible. Children of that age simply can not handle their emotions or exercise judgment appropriately, they are developmentally still unable even to apply simple instructions in every situation.
I agree that touching strangers on a bus is not considered appropriate behaviour for an adult, perhaps even for a 6-year-old, but we should be a bit more understanding toward a child that young without jumping to conclusion that parents are clueless when it comes to discipline.
But the dog comparison is a real gem -- dogs also tend to sniff even people who do not own dogs and would rather not have any contact with them -- I have no idea how many times I had to ask people to remove their dogs from my vicinity because they made me feel uncomfortable.
Yet, I usually assumed that these people could keep their dogs under reasonable control but that the latter could not help themselves -- they would just try to do what dogs naturally tend to do. Which is in fact not so much different from what children do (sniff around and explore the world).
So why would the invasion of a potentially dangerous animal into someone's personal space be somehow more acceptable than that of a pretty innocuous human being?
..because there are lots of people out there who do not like kids full stop. Whether it is a crying 6 month baby on a plane, 2 year old throwing a tantrum in the supermarket to a 3 year old touching a passenger on a tram, it somehow is the complete fault of the parent if the kids are not in straight jackets while being among the general public. God forbid that anyone would be inconvenienced by kids being kids. I guess many people either had terrible childhoods or they have completely forgotton what it was like being a child. I certainly don't expect anyone to like my kids or think them cute but neither do I quietly tolerate anyone picking on me or my children for just being on public transport and behaving normally .
..and anyway if we are, for argument's sake, going to blame the Mother for the 3 year old touching the man then who's going call the Mother of the man to complain about his rude behaviour
I don't know that Gooseman must have some spirits dancing inside his head, maybe some came out of a bottle straight into his head ??? I've heard a cork pop, was that you Papa Goose ?
I have live in Ch for nine years and I have to say, I think that man was totally wrong to say what he said,but it doesn't surprise me........The swiss expect you to be tolerant of their childen but are not of yours, yep doesn't really make sense,but I have found it to be true. While on a tram in the city in the summer with a group of 10 young children, we were standing up in the standing area due to the lare size of a party,when at the next stop two people and their strollers got on and just because the second person got slighty stuck in the door as it was closing,he starting hurling abuse at us about how this area is only for stollers and how we shouldn't be using it.......the F word was used by him at least 4 or 5 times, after a heated row with the man he then starting pushing and kicking my collegue to move!
And this was a young man in his 30s. I have live in other countries and I have found Ch to be the least tolerant of children
I'm not too surprised by this sort of thing. In the year-and-a-half here, we've encountered a lot of miserable old f***ers, and on four occasions our kids have been either hit or hurt by strangers, usually on public transport.
What we're talking about here is not the type where the kids are running around screaming and hitting people while parents are quietly whimpering 'Oh, please, Timothy, be a good boy', but a three-year-old who is still very much learning what social interaction is. They're not programmed from birth to know how to act in every situation and they have to learn. I don't mean letting them run feral, but is the old man's reaction really what you think a child should be learning?
However, that's beside the point in a way. What seems to have upset a couple of people on here is not the 'offence' of the girl, but more that generalisations have been made about the Swiss. There's a couple of people on here who will always go very defensive when that happens, no matter what the issue.
No, I was rushing to finish it so I could give it to the little girl. In London it appears that sadly a broken bottle is still preferable to MACE
Even though I wouldn't be too impressed with being pawed, I'm sure a polite word would not have hurt the miserable old scrot', to threaten a kiddie is really over the top... Swiss or not.