On Nov. 29, a self-professed 16-year-old Redditor u/kloimo wrote a post, "A message to parents with schoolchildren, from a student".

The post was to share her experience as a part-timer selling items and interacting with other students and their parents.

Encountered nasty parents

u/kloimo explained that she had just completed her O-levels, and was spending her holiday working for extra pocket money.

Other than saying it was to "sell items for different schools", she did not elaborate further what job it was she was doing.

In her Reddit post, she shared some accounts of the nasty parents that she encountered while working:

#1 Parent called her "not smart"

On her first day of work, a parent told her son to "wait" because she (the Redditor) is "not smart":

"On my first day of work, I had a nasty parent who openly told her son "You have to wait, she's not smart you know." simply because I had to confirm that the sample size I gave them was correct with the full time workers at the counter.

Although I had been briefed, I just wanted to ensure that I provided the correct information and was doing my job properly. It doesn't mean that I'm stupid or dumb. (Besides, if I did something wrong instead of clarifying my doubts, wouldn't I be in even more trouble?)"

#2 Some parents had a condescending attitude

The Redditor also gave an example of how some parents she met would be condescending when requesting for certain items:

"For example, let's say Happyland is a really well known school. There's Happyland Primary, Happyland Girls School, Happyland High School and Happyland JC. The parents of Happyland have the tendency to go into the store and scoff "Happyland." when I ask them which school's items they are looking for. Upon asking them which Happyland School they are referring to, they would instantly look offended as if to say 'Don't you knowHappyland?'"

#3: Some treated others differently based on school

According to her, some parents would "instantly [change] their tone and attitude" when speaking to parents whose child is attending the same school as theirs.

They would also suddenly become "nice" to her upon learning that she would be going to a "good JC":

"Some parents would brag about their children to other parents who they know are parents of children who are going to neighbourhood secondary schools, instantly changing their tone and attitude the moment they come into contact with another parents whose child is attending the same school as theirs.

... The parents are nice to me (their tone actually does a 180) when they ask me which school I go to and find out that I've already accepted an offer from a "good" JC. Are they implying that they're only nice to me the moment they find out that I'm going to a "better" school than their child?"

Hope that people will treat others with respect

The Redditor highlighted that she has met many parents (whose children are from elite schools) who are "amiable, pleasant people".

However, working this job helped her empathise with people who have to deal with nasty parents, especially parents who "think they're better than everyone else simply because of the school their child goes to".

She also clarified that the point of her post was not to say that "all schools are equal".

Instead, it was meant to be a message for parents to set a "healthy example" for children by treating others with respect.

"Your child's brand of school doesn't make you any better than others," she added.

Read the full Reddit post here.

Top image via The First Day YouTube video