The Moment I Snapped: Yelling at a Stranger's Child

This is a recent story and situation from August 2026. It’s about when my daughter and I were at Granville Island in Vancouver, BC, with my friend and her child, who visited us from Toronto. We visited the Granville Island Kids Market, which features an activity centre upstairs, clothing and shoe stores, and a small cafeteria serving hot dogs and other snacks. It’s truly an amazing place. 

Granville Island Kids Market

This past weekend, I spent 80% of my time there, and also as a parent who is waiting most of the time for my kid. During this outing, I was waiting for my child and my friend's child to finish in the bathroom, but they were taking too long. It seemed like they were up to some shenanigans, perhaps changing out of their swimsuits and farting around. 

No Hitting! 

While waiting for my daughter and my daughter’s friend, I sat on a bench, looking around and down the hall. There, I noticed a store filled with novelties, and then I saw a child walk out of the store, attached to another child because she was pulling her hair. 

The taller child pulled on the hair of the shorter child, dragged her out of the store, and then brought her up against the wall in the hallway and smacked her head. I watched in horror, yet I couldn't look away. The taller child stood menacingly in front of her, while the smaller child faced me, basically looking at me the whole time. I think it was because I was looking that way and looked horrified. I imagine the smaller child was embarrassed. If I were that small, I would be really embarrassed, too. 

Everybody should know that if somebody hits you, you should not be ashamed of it. Yet, it is embarrassing to be seen being attacked by somebody else in this way, especially in public. So the shorter child stared at me the whole time while the taller child intimidated and bullied her menacingly. I don't know what the hell happened earlier. Thirty seconds later, the big kid raised her arm and smacked the little kid on her forearm with a closed fist, and it was a really hard hit.

Without thinking for a second, I yelled down the hall. I said, "Hey!" and everyone turned around, including the two children. The bigger kid looked at me, and I looked her straight in the eyes to make it super fucking clear  I was talking to her. I didn't plan any of this. All I said was, "I don't care who your parents are, but you do not hit."

Also, there was a man and his daughter standing directly across from me when I yelled. Although I was not looking for validation and didn't give a shit if anybody said, "Hey, you don't yell at people who are not your kids," I looked to see their reactions. They didn't react or say anything, and that's good, because I was justified in yelling at the bully kid. Somebody needed to fucking yell at the misbehaving child in public about not hitting others. 

Parenting Around the Corner 

At this point, the taller child made a face as if she were embarrassed. These two kids, I presume, are siblings, and then they turned to each other and went around the corner. While I was mid-yell, my child and my friend's child walked out of the bathroom like perfect fucking timing. 

Although it occurred to me that they came out of the bathroom because they heard me yelling. Anyway, I told my kid and my friend's child what happened, and they went in the same direction as the siblings. 

I assumed they went that way, probably led by my daughter, who's often the instigator, to see what happened or where those girls went, or to generally inquire about the situation, which was fine; I didn't think anything of it. After a minute, I thought, "Well, we should go and check on our children." 

We turned the corner to see that my child was now talking to these two. I assumed that my child and my friend's child went that way to see what happened because my daughter is often the instigator, so I didn't think anything of it. After a minute, I thought, "Well, we should go and check on our children," and we turned the corner to see that my child was now talking to the siblings.

How Children Resolve Conflict 

Now, there were four children in a circular standoff: my daughter, my friend's child, and the two siblings I witnessed earlier. My child, with her arms crossed, led the interrogation. Despite the taller kid being bigger than her,  my daughter's body language was not scolding or anything, but she would use hand gestures as if she were giving a lesson or asking what happened.

Meanwhile, my friend's child was a little bit more passive, but she was totally in the conversation. 

I was unsure of what to do since I had already yelled at these kids who aren't mine. I wasn’t going to double down, and I was done with this situation. 

A minute later, a tall Asian man walked into frame. I should mention that every single one of these kids I mentioned was Asian, which has nothing to do with it, except that when I started walking closer to signal to my child to get the heck out of here, I heard the man ask his daughters in Korean. 

For your information, I can understand Korean. I don’t need a lot of subtitles to watch K-dramas, and I catch on to basic Korean when my parents and other family members have conversations. 

The tall Korean man asked, “Oh, what’s going on?” He didn't ask harshly, because they were talking in a circle. Although it didn’t look threatening, you might wonder what was going on if your kids were in a circle talking to other kids. 

At this point, I decided to go over to the circle. I was going to whistle, but I don’t know how to whistle—it's an insecurity of mine. 

Anyway, we left, and that was it. I asked my daughter, “What were you saying?”

My daughter: "Well, I just asked what was going on and why she hit." 

Me: "Well, what did they say?"

My daughter: "Well, the bigger one said, 'The little one doesn't speak English and that's my sister.' And then I said, 'Well, you still shouldn't hit.' 

And that was the gist of the conversation. 

I created a Karen Jr, everybody. That's what I did. What I did was Karen-ing, where I just yelled. I said, "Don't hit," because that's what you should do. 

Childhood Behaviours Are Learned 

My friend, who is a nurse, chimed in and said, "She's learned that from home." When you see a kid hit, be aggressive, or say mean things, you know they learned it from somewhere.

Reflecting on this situation, it really triggered me because when I was little, I got hit a lot by my mom, who's going to a nursing home. No, I'm just kidding, but really. Since then, violence and hitting have been part of my fucking vocabulary. I remember when I was younger, I'd hit my younger sibling, as if it was fucking normal. In fact, you're not supposed to do that. What a horrible thing to do and to normalize in your family and childhood. 

I also hated that this kid was hitting the other kid, and I hated it for the little kid. I also felt bad for the big kid, who obviously learned it somewhere. So that's what I did. I yelled at a stranger's child. 

I don't know who these siblings are, where they live, or if they were visiting, but my first reaction was to say something and let them know that you can't fucking do that. If anything, I wanted to teach them a basic lesson: you shouldn't hit, especially in public, because someone will yell at you.

What Would You Do?

What would you do?  Not many people would do the things I do, because, to my husband's horror, I lack the receptor that makes you feel shame. For instance, I could fall and drop everything on the street, and even if 100 people saw, and I'd react like nothing happened, "Yeah, I'm okay," and leave. I wouldn't turn red, as if I didn't know what happened. 

I mean, when I was little, I would have been embarrassed, but now, I don't care what any of you think.

Anyway, would you have yelled if you saw a kid hitting another kid? Whether they were siblings or not, or if they were that small in a public space, would you say something? Would you have stayed and talked to the father about what you saw? Or would you survey the area first to see if anybody else was going to jump in?

What would you have done if you were in a similar situation? Tell me, I want to know. 

Thanks for listening.