Mum shuts down stranger who claimed they felt 'sorry' for her while shopping

Courtney Lester was walking around her local store with her husband Zach, minding her own business, enjoying her afternoon. 

But it wasn't to last; her evening turned dark quite quickly with the passing comments of one stranger.

You see, Courtney and her husband had their three children in tow; her four-year-old sitting in the cart, her two-year-old in the chair and her newborn in a baby carrier. 

So when a man they had never met before stopped to comment, "I feel sorry for you, you have your hands full with all those kids," Courtney was NOT impressed. 

Too stunned to reply to the man in question, when Courtney got home, she penned a post which has got many of us thinking.

Is it OK to pass comment to a stranger? Is it someone just trying to be nice and wanting to start a conversation, or are they being plain rude?

Nevertheless the passing comment was offensive to Courtney, and we can totally understand why…

The mum-of-three suffered two miscarriages after the birth of her eldest daughter, with doctors predicting she would never be able to carry full term again. 

But after defying the odds and now having a two-year-old daughter and newborn son, Courtney savours every moment, not wanting anyone to feel sorry for her because of her children. 

"First off, my hands were empty as you can see in the photo. What you can't tell is that I lost two babies before being blessed with my last two, so if you want to feel sorry for me, there's the only reason why you should."

"My children are blessings. They aren't perfectly modelled citizens because, well, they're children. Sometimes they're loud, sometimes they misbehave, and sometimes they have complete meltdowns. However, you didn't even see that side of them."

While Courtney admits that some days are harder than others, anticipating bed at an early hour, she has never viewed her children as an inconvenience or has ever seen them as a reason for a stranger to feel sorry for her. 

"Even on days when they won't listen, have meltdowns, and when it seems like nothing I do is good enough, I have never felt sorry for myself and I don't expect others to either."

Mum added: "Please, never feel sorry for me because my heart is more full than my hands could ever be."

However, as we stated, we can completely see where Courtney is coming from and understand why she would feel upset.

But at the same time we're a little conflicted; should we always take what everyone says to heart, someone that we don't even know, who maybe just wanted a chat or should people just keep comments to themselves?

We're curious to know what you think… should he have said nothing and got on with his day, or was it just a bad conversation starter?