Taking an "Interesting Assumption" to a Rude New Level

[Luna_Moon]

http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/washington/stories/NW_052108WAB_pregnant_baby_adoption_KC.1864e5b1.html

This has to be the most ridiculously entitled and rude assumption I've ever heard! "Oh, you're a waitress so you're clearly going to be an unfit mother and your baby is obviously unwanted. Here, let me have it!" 

I... I just... I'm speechless. That poor waitress.

I just can't come up with *any* good reason for thinking that kind of assumption is okay.

[caranfin]

Well, I guess if they hand that card to every pregnant woman they see, they're not exactly making assumptions about her just because she's a waitress... 

[Luna_Moon]

Hmmm... I hadn't considered that... and now I can't decide if I think that's marginally better or a whole lot worse.

[Elle]

The one way I could think that this was possibly (remotely) okay:

The couple hands these cards out to EVERYBODY; the waitress who brings them drinks, the guy that bags their groceries, coworkers, barristas, everyone they come into contact with. The idea being that hopefully one of these people will have a friend who is facing a quandry about her pregnancy and will go "Hey, I just got this card from a couple who's trying to adopt. Maybe you should give them a call."

Then the "giving a card to the pregnant waitress not wearing a wedding ring" would be a unfortunate coincidence (and a demonstration of why this is a bad idea) rather than a rude assumption.

[hobish]

The one way I could think that this was possibly (remotely) okay:

The couple hands these cards out to EVERYBODY; the waitress who brings them drinks, the guy that bags their groceries, coworkers, barristas, everyone they come into contact with. The idea being that hopefully one of these people will have a friend who is facing a quandry about her pregnancy and will go "Hey, I just got this card from a couple who's trying to adopt. Maybe you should give them a call."

Then the "giving a card to the pregnant waitress not wearing a wedding ring" would be a unfortunate coincidence (and a demonstration of why this is a bad idea) rather than a rude assumption.

While i agree with you there, i agree with Mrs. Moore that it's kind of creepy. I can't put my finger on exactly why; but nonetheless.

[caranfin]

Hmmm... I hadn't considered that... and now I can't decide if I think that's marginally better or a whole lot worse.

Still odd, either way.

[FoxPaws]

There is something creepy (not to mention painfully desperate) about this couple's method for finding a child. However, there is also something a wee bit "off" about running to the press with it.

I am a cynical soul, and I wonder if the offended couple is setting up for a mental cruelty/emotional injury lawsuit. It just seems overreaction to be so outraged over something so clumsy and pathetic. I could understand calling the phone number and giving them a piece of my mind, but not running to the media.

I agree with the previous poster who thinks the baby seeking couple probably sprinkles these things around everywhere. At five months, they may not have even realized the waitress was pregnant.

[Vegemite Girl]

I thought it was funny that the waitress as quoted was spouting her own assumptions about who would be a more 'appropriate' target...

I think cards like this are not only rude but very creepy. And I think the creepiness is because it takes the search for a *person* to the level of casual advertising. 

[Brentwood]

I thought it was funny that the waitress as quoted was spouting her own assumptions about who would be a more 'appropriate' target...

I don't think that's what she was doing. I think she was just voicing what she believed the couple perceived about her.

[Brentwood]

I have to say, I can't think of a single good reason for this couple to have gone to the press about this.

If I were in the waitress' shoes, I would have found the card offensive also. While it's possible that the couple gives the card to everyone, it does seem more likely that they gave it to her specifically because she is pregnant. It's akin to saying, "We can do better for your baby than you can, so please consider giving him to us."

However, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to go to the press with it. I would have expressed my disgust by throwing the card out and venting to my husband.

[Vegemite Girl]

I have to say, I can't think of a single good reason for this couple to have gone to the press about this.

If I were in the waitress' shoes, I would have found the card offensive also. While it's possible that the couple gives the card to everyone, it does seem more likely that they gave it to her specifically because she is pregnant. It's akin to saying, "We can do better for your baby than you can, so please consider giving him to us."

However, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to go to the press with it. I would have expressed my disgust by throwing the card out and venting to my husband.

I might've made it public, in the interests of 'hopefully this will make them realise how offensive they are'. I would worry that not making a fuss would allow this behaviour to continue, and it's not right.

[Brentwood]

I have to say, I can't think of a single good reason for this couple to have gone to the press about this.

If I were in the waitress' shoes, I would have found the card offensive also. While it's possible that the couple gives the card to everyone, it does seem more likely that they gave it to her specifically because she is pregnant. It's akin to saying, "We can do better for your baby than you can, so please consider giving him to us."

However, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to go to the press with it. I would have expressed my disgust by throwing the card out and venting to my husband.

I might've made it public, in the interests of 'hopefully this will make them realise how offensive they are'. I would worry that not making a fuss would allow this behaviour to continue, and it's not right.

That's a good point, though I think I would have been inclined to think it was a one-off and that there weren't other couples going around doing the same thing.

[Vegemite Girl]

I have to say, I can't think of a single good reason for this couple to have gone to the press about this.

If I were in the waitress' shoes, I would have found the card offensive also. While it's possible that the couple gives the card to everyone, it does seem more likely that they gave it to her specifically because she is pregnant. It's akin to saying, "We can do better for your baby than you can, so please consider giving him to us."

However, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to go to the press with it. I would have expressed my disgust by throwing the card out and venting to my husband.

I might've made it public, in the interests of 'hopefully this will make them realise how offensive they are'. I would worry that not making a fuss would allow this behaviour to continue, and it's not right.

That's a good point, though I think I would have been inclined to think it was a one-off and that there weren't other couples going around doing the same thing.

Even if no-one else was (though I doubt it - I could see this becoming the new 'cute wedding gimme pig poem') it still needs to be addressed, I think.

[Brentwood]

 I could see this becoming the new 'cute wedding gimme pig poem')

Ack! Say it couldn't be so...!

[Vegemite Girl]

 I could see this becoming the new 'cute wedding gimme pig poem')

Ack! Say it couldn't be so...!

A combination thereof:


So we don't have any sproglets,
Though we think they're rather fun,
But there's a way to remedy this;
Give us your unborn one!