Ok pet peeve here. A father and his young daughter (I think about 4 yo) came in. Obviously regulars. The counter girl asked her if she could give her a hug and the kid said no. She then proceeded to lift her up anyway!!!
Why the fuck do people do this???? The kid said NO!!! Doesn’t no mean no??!! How do we expect the message to get across if we

constantly violate their autonomy?
The kid clearly didn’t enjoy it either and immediately reached for her dad too. So mad!

yeah that's so wrong in so many ways

Vin : precies!

Why didn't dad stop it

Chestnut : no time. I think he was on board with it too. Gross. The kid quickly reached for him as soon as her arms were free.

It was honestly all of 5 seconds for the whole interaction.

Honestly it is a parent's responsibility to step in between people and a reluctant child. I 100% blame him for letting it happen. He should tell the counter person in no uncertain terms that No means No. That kid learned that Dad will allow people to touch her against her will in addition to learning people will not respect her boundaries. TERRIBLE

pretty sure I would have been the rude person who scolded them both.

I'd throw hands and catch a charge if someone did that to my kid. idc, I know y'all would send me letters in jail.

Chestnut : I completely agree with you!!! I’m just not that person here because my language confidence isn’t good enough. Plus I’m a regular there too and didn’t want to spoil it. It was so quick I could hardly register it also. That poor girl. I hope she gets better messages.

apple : yup! Yup! I was a really protective momma bear too with my girls. You better ask me before you come near them.
When I grew up I was always forced to hug the adults and let them kiss me. Even the gross older (to my younger self older) men. Hated it!!! It’s really taken me some reeducation to learn that this is not the way!

I always ask a child (or adult) if I can give them a hug. A couple of times my friend’s kid said no, so I replied no problem let me know if you change your mind. (They usually do before I leave) It needs to be their choice!

I agree/

this kind of thing just burns me up! If he had asked to hugher and she said no and he hugged her anyway, he could be arrested for assaulting her. That kid lost her sense of safety and her trust in her dad.

I always hated when people wanted to hug me as a kid I was so shy. Thankfully my parents didn’t force me. They knew it made me super anxious.