Oh boy, pardon me... I just have to chime in. When I was pregnant I had all sorts of strangers come up to me. Most of them had nice things to say though. Nothing so tactless as that lady you met. Many of them had good advice, like to get an epidural and to sleep while the baby slept and to find ways to be alone with my husband and not forget the marriage. All well-meaning, and well taken by me. Others weirded me out, like this guy who kept saying "God bless you, God bless you" as I made my way through the baby department in Burlington. I just smiled politely and slowly walked out of there, postponing the shopping trip. What really made me want to scream was people TOUCHING my belly. Strangers. Maybe if I had already learned kickboxing then, I could've blocked those creepy arms and hands.
The rude comments started AFTER the baby. Like how skinny I was. (My child was colic.) And how my son, at nine months, was already "half my size". And oh, what pretty outfits I wore to the office... Too bad they were too big for me!
I understand how frustrating it is to not be able to say anything. Eventually I learned it's okay to actually say something. Like, "I'd give you this outfit, but it's a 4 and would be too small for you, you'd look like a stuffed sausage."
And when my conscience overrode my mouth (which it ALWAYS does anyway), I'd just turn away and ignore the offender. Count my blessings and all that.
Hope you're feeling better,
Pinky
