A Sunday Absurdity

After church today, I was holding Violet while waiting on the elevator.  A woman I've never seen before noticed my sweet little baby.  She's so adorable, this happens all the time.  A day doesn't go by without a random stranger telling me how beautiful she is.  I smiled politely at this stranger and thanked her for noticing my baby's beauty.  Then she asks if she can hold my beautiful baby.  

Really.  

A complete stranger.  

Wanted to hold my baby.  

My jaw hit the floor.  I just couldn't believe it.  Who does that?  I mean, Violet is irresistible and all, but please.  Just admire her from where you're standing!  Who asks to hold a stranger's baby? Well this lady does, apparently, because while I was staring at her dumbfounded, she asked again.  I picked my jaw up off the floor and said, "Well. I don't know you... so no. I'm sorry".  And of course this hurt her feelings.  But really.  Who asks to hold a stranger's baby?  

One of the things about going to a big church is that there's just no way to know everyone who goes to church with you.  And really, just because a person goes to church doesn't mean that person is good.  We have tried to train our kids to not talk to strangers.  This includes strangers at the mall, at Kroger, the library, and even at church.  Because you just don't know!

So really, this situation today was no different than a random lady walking up to me in the produce section at Kroger and asking to hold my baby.  

It wasn't gonna happen.  

Of course, at that moment the elevator decides to open and I'm forced to ride downstairs with this stranger that I've offended. Fun, fun times. 

Did I overreact?  I really don't think I was out of line.  One of my friends commented that perhaps I should have given her an excuse such as, "I'm sorry but I'm taking her to the bathroom for a diaper change right now".  I'm not quick enough on my feet to think of lies off the top of my head like that.  So I was just honest.  

I told The Hubs and he just shook his head.  When we were younger and stupider, he would have said I was overreacting.  But now we're grown up and oh-so-mature and he completely agreed with me that it's never okay to let a stranger hold any of our children.  She could have taken off with Violet, sprinted down the hallway, dashed down the stairs, and escaped with our precious daughter.  Never to be seen again.  Or, a more likely scenario, she could have spread some evil flu germs to our sweet baby girl.  

Neither are chances I was willing to take.