Talbot Street and the Rude Guy I'll unfortunately never forget

My husband and I have gone to the Talbot Street Art Fair every year since we started dating.  It's a tradition that we intend to continue, even though we often don't buy anything at the fair.  We love to see the new stuff each year and we especially like this particular fair because unlike other art fairs in Indy, it's free to browse.  This year, my parents decided they wanted to go as well, so we decided to load up the entire family and enjoy the morning together.  

As you may have read from my previous posts, going out with the triplets is something that I'm slooowly getting used to.  Neither Aaron nor I are the type of people who enjoy getting a lot of attention but with triplets in tow (especially in their red min-bus of a stroller), it's impossible NOT to attract attention.  Of course, 90% of people don't approach us -- they stare from afar and we hear their well-meaning comments as we walk by.  We hear a lot of  "Wow -- look at that, TRIPLETS", "they sure have their hands full!" "One, Two, Three -- wow" "looks like 2 boys and a girl"-- you get the picture.  Very weird to know that so many people are watching and taking notice of you, but we're trying to get used to it.  

What I can't (and will never) get used to, is people (strangers, that is) who want to touch my babies [[this happened with Owen when he was a baby as well...I just don't get it!]].  I had an older gentleman today ask if it was ok to take a picture of Mayleah.  Aaron and I had pulled the stroller behind some booths so that we could feed the babies.  This older man chatted with Aaron for about 5 minutes.  He was generous and gave Aaron a silver dollar for each baby....odd, but generous.  Aaron answered his questions but tried to give some body language that we'd prefer not to give all the babies' (and our) personal details out to strangers. This guy got the hint from Aaron, but couldn't leave well enough alone and then approached me and talked to me for a few minutes.  He was armed with a camera and I could tell the question was coming -- he asked if it was ok to photograph Mayleah.  I said it depending on what he was planning on doing with the picture and he replied that he wasn't sure.  So, I politely declined.  I just think it's odd that there would be a random picture of my baby in the hands of someone I don't know.... He was OK with my response and moved on.  Fine.  Weird situation, but whatever. 

As we headed back towards our car, Mayleah started to fuss, so I pulled over the mini-bus as best I could so that I wouldn't be blocking foot traffic and started to get her out of her car seat. Meanwhile, two women approached with all the normal questions, but I noticed one of them reach into Grant's seat to lift his hat so she could see his face.  He's sleeping and sorry, but I'd prefer for strangers to keep their hands OFF my babies, so I said to her "I'm sorry, but please don't touch".  She ignored me, continued to talk to her friend and proceeded to do the same to Mason, so I repeated to her again "Please don't touch".  What IS it with these people! It was at that point that someone in her party asked "how old are they?" and I responded "3 and half months".  It was then that I heard a man say (in a demeaning and sarcastic tone), "And you brought them out to this place, great mom."  I was shocked.  (Disclaimer -- I am NOT proud of what happened next).  I turned to my husband and told him what this man said and then turned back and while he was walking away I said (ok, I might have yelled) "that was an inappropriate comment, sir" to which he replied "it was just a comment" and I responded again that it was inappropriate.   Aaron also walked up to him and told him that he didn't need to worry about what other people were doing and he should keep his comments to himself.  I don't think he expected us to react to what he said, but I couldn't let him get away with it. I followed (and accidentally pushed the mini-bus into the heels of this guy's older son (I think it was his son anyway -- he looked just like him, only he was about 20 years old versus 50ish -- at any rate, I apologized to the son for running into him) and proceeded to tell him that his comment was mean and that he had know idea what it was like to be in our shoes so he should keep his comments to himself.   I mean, really.  Did he make similar comments to people who were out with their babies who were just as young as ours (we just happened to have had 3 of them at the same time)?  Why did he think taking them out for a walk at an art fair made me a bad mom?  And, even if he thought that, why, on God's green earth, would he feel it's appropriate to tell a stranger (with whom he can not relate) his thoughts?  Just to make me feel bad and to be a jerk -- that's the only reason I can come up with.   

While I'm still pissed that he damped (to put it nicely) the nice morning that I was having with my family, I'm thankful that I had the experience.  Ok, maybe 'thankful' isn't the right word.  But I know one thing....I'm not happy with how I responded to him or the situation.  I need to work on keeping my cool especially around my babies as they get older. I've heard from other triplet moms that people say some pretty awful things to you about having triplets and this guy proved to me that my family will not be left unscathed by these idiotic, ignorant, and thoughtless people.  But, my job as a mother is to show by example to my children that you can (and should) stand up for yourself and for your family in these situations -- I just need to work on doing it so that I'm not embarrassed by my actions afterwards.  But hey -- I do give myself a little bit of credit.  I really, really wanted to tell him to f*&^ off but I was successful at keeping that to myself.   Sure would've felt good in the moment, though...haha ;o)