So earlier this morning, my friend and I were waiting at the lift lobby for our Grab driver. While waiting, a mother, her child, and a helper arrived and waited at the lobby as well.
The child was about to step out of the lobby, but the mother told him to wait for his dad to come down. So far, everything was normal. My friend and I were just minding our own business. Do note that we weren’t paying attention to any of them—not where they were standing or what they were doing.
Fast forward a few minutes later, our Grab driver arrived. My friend pressed the automatic sliding door button to open it. While doing so, she was looking at her phone to check the car details and confirm it was the correct ride.
Unbeknownst to my friend, the child was standing at the corner of the door gap—where the sliding door rests when it opens. As the door was opening, the mother suddenly screamed, which alerted me. I quickly grabbed hold of the sliding door and looked over to see what was going on. I saw the child almost getting trapped between the wall and the glass door. I immediately said, “Oh, sorry,” and moved on.
However, the mother wasn’t happy. She was glaring at me and my friend, and then shouted, “NOT EVEN A SORRY?”
That ticked me off. I replied, “It’s not our responsibility to look after your child. It’s yours.”
She shot back, “I’LL REMEMBER THIS!” (Honestly, I thought I heard “I’LL MURDER YOU,” but my friend said she heard “I’ll remember this,” so… yeah.)
My friend then approached her to calm her down and apologized. In the end, we had to book another Grab and started work in a sour mood.
Comments
You didn’t shove the kid near the door her lack of supervision did, and blaming strangers for her parenting slip-up is just deflection.
NTA.
If she was watching her son in the first place, he wouldn’t have put himself in a position where he could have hurt himself.
ESH.
Mother – could’ve paid closer attention but if you truly didn’t know where people were stood/what they were doing, she could’ve opened her bag to retrieve a set of keys – doesn’t take long for a kid to move. And in an enclosed foyer, risk should be minimal.
Friend – seriously? Get head off the phone and pay attention to surroundings. I don’t buy that anyone opens a door without paying attention to who’s around/on the other side. And they should’ve apologised as well.
You – for going from 0-60 and escalating the situation.
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You are NTA.
Your friend is for activating/opening doors when she is looking at her phone.
The mum is for blaming your friend when she should’ve been watching her kid.
We have two doors at my work, they both open inwards. The back door in the afternoon gets the sun on it and if you’re coming inside you can’t see through the door. Once there was this toddler standing right against the glass. I said to the mum to be careful because no one will see him if they go to come inside. She yelled at me and told me that she knows how to parent. Two minutes later he gets bowled over by someone opening the door. I no longer tell parents to be careful, they can make the parenting choices they decide is OK
NTA. You are not the designated babysitter for every child within a five meter radius. The kid was unsupervised next to an automatic door and somehow that became your fault. Her outrage was less about danger and more about deflecting her own parental lapse. Let her remember it maybe next time she’ll parent proactively instead of dramatically.