Mall Train Display Meanies

[katydid1971]

Right now at the mall they are having model train displays from a bunch of train clubs in the area. DS is at an age where stuff this this is super cool. We are walking around looking at the displays. I was being very careful keeping DS behind the ropes, but he would grab the ropes and kinda swing them while he was watching the trains (he's two, two year olds do stuff like that). I didn't think it was a big deal because the stands were old coffee cans with concrete and PVC pipes and the ropes were cheapo nylon rope. Well one of the 70 year old men yeld at DS for touching the ropes. WTF!!! He was being so good not climbing under them to get to the trains like I know he SOOO wanted to do. OK your an old man who plays with toys you can't be a little nice to a little boy who wants to look at your toys?!?!?! When I told my mom the story she said he was lucky she wasn't there because she would have punched the guy :) Get a life budy!!! Thanks for letting me vent.

[ThreeofUs]

Oh, what a jerk!

Aren't these guys supposed to be trying to get more people interested in model trains?! Instead of yelling at your son, he should have gotten him even more involved.

[hellokitty]

That stinks! Usually, most of those train club guys are really nice. Looks like you ran into a grouch! I'm sorry that you had to experience that.

[elizabethkott]

I'm sorry. :(
My dad and brother are absolute model train freaks. Like they belong to a train club and everything, too. I think it was really great of the clubs and the mall to put up a display like that, but shame on that guy for freaking out on a child. It is a lot of work to put up a display like that, and he was probably just trying to keep his hard work and the hard work of others safe, but come on. Ease up, dude.
I suppose there's always someone in every group with their knickers in a twist...

[smilla653]

I don't know what it is about model train guys, but they are always crotchety old men!

It is unpleasant to be yelled at. So sorry!

I will say that he was probably just nervous about your DS damaging the trains if he swung the rope too hard and it fell. I do not allow DS to touch ropes, swing them, climb barricades at the zoo, etc. but I fall on the super-anal side. Your son's behaviour sounds totally normal, but I see the old dude's point, too (just not his mode of delivery).

[JTsMom]

Aww, poor kiddo. :( His b-day is just a couple days after my DS's, and I know what incredible restraint he must have had to muster to stay behind the ropes. They try so hard at that age, huh? It breaks my heart if anyone looks at my little guy with less than a smile, so I hear you.


Good for your mom though- that made me chuckle. One time, some older kid in the mall play area shoved DS really hard in the chest, and sent him flying. Because he has a big scar there, it freaked me out even more than I think it would have otherwise. When I told my mom the story later that night, I thought she was going to hunt down that boy and his mom! LOL Don't mess with Grandmas. :ROTFLMAO:

[katydid1971]

Good for your mom though- that made me chuckle. One time, some older kid in the mall play area shoved DS really hard in the chest, and sent him flying. Because he has a big scar there, it freaked me out even more than I think it would have otherwise. When I told my mom the story later that night, I thought she was going to hunt down that boy and his mom! LOL Don't mess with Grandmas. :ROTFLMAO:
Sorry your little guy go hit at the play area, especially on his scar. That is another of my big bitches is the big kids at the "little kid" play areas and parents who don't watch'em. ITA Don't mess with Grandmas!!!!

[s7714]

Aside from my dad ;) I've found a high percentage of those model train guys to be pretty uptight.

They have a train layout at one of our local museums, but they have it set up so kids can really only see it from one little platform (and meanwhile the train meanders waaaay back throughout the part of the room that's off limits.) Last time we went there they left the little gate that blocks off the "engineer only" section wide open, so before I could catch her, my younger DD took off down the path thinking she could see more trains. One of the volunteer model guys went nuts telling me I needed to keep a better eye on my kids, blah blah blah. I laid into him that THEY were at fault for leaving the gate open and considering their horrible attitude I wanted my donation back immediately (they have a donation box outside the entrance door) because I wasn't about to give my hard earned money to someone that would speak to me like that. The actual museum staff was pretty pissed that the volunteer caused someone to ask for their money back (and yes, I really did make them give me back my money! :icon_twisted:)

[katydid1971]

Aside from my dad ;) I've found a high percentage of those model train guys to be pretty uptight.

They have a train layout at one of our local museums, but they have it set up so kids can really only see it from one little platform (and meanwhile the train meanders waaaay back throughout the part of the room that's off limits.) Last time we went there they left the little gate that blocks off the "engineer only" section wide open, so before I could catch her, my younger DD took off down the path thinking she could see more trains. One of the volunteer model guys went nuts telling me I needed to keep a better eye on my kids, blah blah blah. I laid into him that THEY were at fault for leaving the gate open and considering their horrible attitude I wanted my donation back immediately (they have a donation box outside the entrance door) because I wasn't about to give my hard earned money to someone that would speak to me like that. The actual museum staff was pretty pissed that the volunteer caused someone to ask for their money back (and yes, I really did make them give me back my money! :icon_twisted:)

Way to go!!!! These old guys don't seem to get that the only people interested in their trains are themselves and little kids!!!! Come on I wouldn't even look twice at the trains if I wasn't with DS. I'm glad you let the museum know how their volunteers are treating people. Oh and I like how they are "engineers" running a TOY train!!! :)

[elizabethkott]

Oh and I like how they are "engineers" running a TOY train!!! :)

Actually, some of the layouts are really intricate. Since my dad and brother are both involved with model railroading, I have to listen to them talk about this stuff ad infinitum...

There are some layouts that are *miles* long, and are to-scale replicas of actual train lines. Because of the intricacies, some actually need more than one person operating them during a session, because there is more than one train going at a time. Like real trains, if a dispatcher isn't paying attention or sends a train down the wrong track, a crash could happen.

While they are seen by many as toys, and they are for the most part grown men, it is their hobby and they enjoy it just as much as some men enjoy taking off with the boys for a round of golf or watching a football game. To some of the people involved with model railroading, it's an art - the time and dedication required to put together one of those "toys" can take weeks. To say nothing of the level of research I've seen my dad put in to get a station just how it was in real life in the 1930's.

It still doesn't excuse how some people would choose to speak to a child. That's very unfortunate.