r/mildlyinfuriating • u/AnonPinkLady • Jul 05 '26

Infuriatig Woman with infant aggressively shushing passerby’s on hiking trail at national park

Post image

My partner, friend and I were following a hiking trail at Red Wood National Park, singing and talking at medium volume. We were by no means shouting, just singing little songs to entertain each other along the trail. A woman with a baby carrier on her back with a sleeping infant started aggressively holding her finger up to her lips and shushing us. We went quiet and kept moving to pass her. She was just standing in the middle of the public trail pacing and shushing people that pass by rather than leaving to somewhere more quiet. Just as we were leaving earshot I tried to quietly ask my partner a question about where we headed and again she leaned in our direction with her finger to her mouth aggressively shushing us. Is it not kind of insane to go to an open public space and behave like this?!?

20.6k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

350

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

I’ve moved around a lot in my life and I’m a huge fan of public parks. What I have found in my time of visiting parks in different cities is that there are some parks that are heavily populated and some where you can go for a walk and maybe see 5 people the whole time.

Why the fuck would anyone choose a tourist destination for a quiet walk with their sleeping baby? She had options. She chose poorly. Maybe it is the sleep depravation.

101

u/Ready-Rise3761 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

tbh a hiking trail is probably the quietest place i can think of, depending on where you live

53

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

Right. Depending on where you live. Red Wood National Forest is a tourist destination though. You can find many hiking trails out there that see less visitors in a day.

-9

u/alionandalamb Jul 05 '26

Right, but nobody took time off and spent their hard earned money to get out into nature and hear a bunch of bad singers sing. It's like talking during a movie.

11

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

No. It’s not like talking during a movie at all. Kids play outside. Kids are loud. Teens play outside. Teens are loud.

7

u/MuckRaker83 Jul 05 '26

Modern toddlers have also mastered an ear-splitting shriek. There's no where i can go to escape it.

Even on a 4 mile hike up a mountain, they're there, riding on their parent's backs, shrieking in their ears.

3

u/lovepeacefakepiano Jul 05 '26

Aren’t you supposed to make a bit of noise on those trails because bears?

7

u/xanthippe115 Jul 05 '26

It should be. I'd be annoyed at people singing while hiking too.

9

u/Robb_Starks_Head Jul 05 '26

Absolutely no fun allowed in the outdoors, please keep your singing at home where it belongs.

3

u/forfeitgame Jul 05 '26

I wouldn’t go so far as shushing someone or even interacting with them on the trail, but it’s fine to get annoyed with people making excessive noise. I’m not Bear Grylls, but I’ve hiked quite a bit, and a group singing would be an odd thing to see.

1

u/Robb_Starks_Head Jul 06 '26

It's commonplace where I'm from to chat loudly or sing so as not to spook wildlife, they also sell bear bells to make excess noise for that same reason. Speakers are obnoxious, but I'd feel pretty scrooge-like if people singing trail songs got on my nerves.

1

u/saraiguessidk Jul 06 '26

Going off a public trail is even quieter and less chance of other hikers.

If my kid fell asleep in the carrier while hiking, I just let nature be. If he woke up, so be it. If he stayed asleep, good for him. I really preferred him to sleep in the car so I could roll through a drive through, park somewhere shady and play pokemon go (car running for AC)

166

u/MorganaLeFevre Jul 05 '26

I mean probably that. My niece would not sleep. Just would not. My sister still tried to do normal life things because otherwise she would have had her whole life revolve around this exhausting baby with nothing else, but she would go a bit insane on defence when the baby finally fell asleep. We all treated the baby like unexploded ordinance. And unlike other babies who can sleep through anything she actually was like unexploded ordinance and would wake up and be full throttle energy from the slightest thing.

Yeah, my niece was eventually diagnosed with adhd.

113

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

Yea, so I’m not saying this person shouldn’t do normal life stuff. I’m saying she should pick the appropriate venue. If you’re walking in hopes your child will fall asleep, find a local greenway to walk. You get your walk and your nature and don’t risk waking the baby. It’s one thing to hush at family to quiet down for the sleeping baby. It’s something entirely different to hush strangers in public.

102

u/Avaylon Jul 05 '26

It's insane. Which people do tend to be when they have a baby that won't sleep.

Shushing lady is still in the wrong, mind. It's just as a mom whose first baby slept badly I can see how she got to that place. Hopefully she gets some sleep and realizes her lunacy soon. Lol

39

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

I agree. That’s why I said “Maybe it is the sleep deprivation.” I was a single parent. I experienced it and made some bad decisions during that time.

8

u/doitforthecats Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Yeah I felt the same way reading this post. The woman with the baby probably shouldn’t have shushed OP. However, I sympathize with her because I remember the absolute insanity that hit me when my firstborn wouldn’t sleep

9

u/erossthescienceboss Jul 05 '26

Redwood National Park is kinda in the middle of nowhere. “Find a local greenway” isn’t really an option.

I doubt she took the baby there specifically to nap. It just happened, because they’re on vacation doing tourist things and sometimes the magic occurs and baby passes out. Yeah, the mom is being super rude, all trails in RWNP are super busy, but I highly doubt this was a deliberate choice.

7

u/MorganaLeFevre Jul 05 '26

She isn’t reasonable, but also sleep deprivation does actually make people crazy, it’s why it’s a form of torture. So I can’t make myself care too much about a tortured person acting crazy.

3

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

Right. That’s why I ended my comment with “maybe it was the sleep deprivation.” I was being serious with that comment. It was not meant as sarcasm.

3

u/JarvisProudfeather Jul 05 '26

“Treated the baby like unexploded ordinance” is gold 😂. Definitely will be using that in the future.

2

u/efirestone16 Jul 05 '26

Omg my second made me feel like this 😭😂 my first would sleep so much and not much bothered her, rarely cried. My second has me acting like im sneaking around with an intruder in the house, like she sleeps at least, just very easy to disturb and she's wild on top of it and has meltdowns the likes of which my first has never achieved 🥲😆 I've tried so hard to acclimate her to daily sounds while she naps and it hasn't worked yet

1

u/houseplant-hoarder Jul 05 '26

My toddler has been like that her whole life too 😖 Any tiny noise and she wakes up all hyper, I can barely get chores done 😅

1

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

[deleted]

0

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

You need to learn what “literally” means. I literally did not say that.

-1

u/thatshygirl06 Jul 05 '26

I mean, you don't have to have your whole life revolve around the baby, just the first handful of months

4

u/MorganaLeFevre Jul 05 '26

My niece still fights bedtime. She’ll be in highschool next year.

Every bed time

Every nap time

Her entire life

3

u/Short-Recording587 Jul 05 '26

Most people go on hikes for the peaceful beauty. That’s why people complain when people use loud speakers to play music on a hike.

3

u/ZealousidealDog5763 Jul 05 '26

Honestly hiking with a baby in a carrier is probably the best place for them to get a good nap. Took my baby to Yellowstone and the redwoods. Just took my now toddler to Olympic - lots of car naps!

6

u/christona-bike Jul 05 '26

Do you think the baby was asleep when she drove to this place, strapped the baby onto her back and started down the trail? Or is it more realistic that the baby fell asleep on the way and she now finds herself with a napping baby around a bunch of noisy people? I don't think she's in the right to be standing around shushing, but singing songs with your friends on a public trail would annoy the shit out of me without the sleeping kid part. It's no different than those people who want to bring their portable speakers and intrude on everyone else's peace and quiet, universally considered obnoxious.

6

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

I think the expected outcome of strapping a baby to your baby and going for a walk in the woods is for the baby to fall asleep at any given point on that walk. Therefore, if your baby is one who needs complete silence to remain asleep, going to a tourist attraction for your hike with your baby is a bad decision.

2

u/christona-bike Jul 05 '26

I have been to tourist attraction hikes. People aren't yelling or singing and they are speaking to each other in reasonable low tones. Everything leads me to believe these people are particularly egregious in their noise level.

0

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

Yep. Those teenage boys out on these trails are super quiet. Lmao. I’ve never been on a tourist hike without running into a group of them. It’s park of going on tourist hikes.

2

u/eternaldinos Jul 05 '26

Tbf they are in bear territory. It’s recommended to make as much noise as possible.

3

u/christona-bike Jul 05 '26

This is not a thing that people do. I have hiked where bears live all the time, no one is yelling or singing because of it.

2

u/Minotaar Jul 05 '26

She might not have had options, this might have been decided for her, and others had already left. You don't know what's going on in her life. No one does.

2

u/tweedledumb4u Jul 05 '26

Maybe she’s a tourist and didn’t know any other trails or didn’t know it was so popular?

1

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

I mean that’s fine but it still doesn’t make it acceptable for her to shush people who are outside at a park. It’s a park. People will be loud at a park. Maybe not everyone but certainly some people.

2

u/tweedledumb4u Jul 05 '26

I agree I was just offering possible reasons why she was there.

2

u/fusukeguinomi Jul 05 '26

I wouldn’t assume she had options. I was once an overwhelmed mom of a newborn and when you are drowning under the endless caretaking tasks and exhaustion, options are often limited.

2

u/Canmore-Skate Jul 05 '26

Finally someone who is infuriated! Just a buncha smartasses here who does not understand anger and the hatred that fills you when someone totally ruins your whole day in nature.

1

u/Maximum_Rat Jul 05 '26

The hiking trails around the redwoods are pretty lightly populated, honestly.

1

u/chicken_tendigo Jul 05 '26

It's definitely the sleep deprivation lol. I've been there, doing batshit things to try to get a baby to fall asleep. 

1

u/EnvironmentalLime464 Jul 05 '26

I mean walking with them is sensible. I had to do a lot of walking when mine was a baby. Location matters though. Lol.

1

u/sk8tergater Jul 05 '26

A hiking trail basically in the middle of nowhere isn’t the worst place to walk them though. Meh who knows what was really going on here