Collecting Toys...

[Sarah-Bee]

Silly old ...... Best stop there.  I'd have given her a piece of my mind if she'd said that to me.  Don't let narrow minded busy bodies get you down Hun, she's not worth it x

[hathorcat]

What a silly lady! I wouldnt let that kind of thing bother you - you are entitled to purchase anything you wish after all!

[Gingerbread]

What a cantankerous old biddy! I would have said it's none of her business who the pony is for, be it child or adult, then I would have told her to do one. Honestly some people are just not happy unless they're making other people miserable.

[Sandi]

What a bi... rude old lady! It's not like there's not enough toys for all the (spoiled) children already. I'd say collectors enjoy them as much as kids. Sometimes even more. The kids usually just through them away after a while.

[Moonracer]

Oh my... that's definitely not the best encounter.


You know, I actually been thinking for a couple of days now, about what if something like this should happen to me one day - I've bought a couple of ponies in a second-hand store once or twice, and nothing like that happened to me before, but I'm still cautious, because you never know when some mother or grandmother might come up to me and throw a hissyfit because I "dared" to buy a pony which little girl could play with.


I actually prefer buying stuff off the internet, because you can stay anonymous and you don't have to worry that someone might come up to me and ranting to me on how I shouldn't buy ponies.


But then, again, on the second thought, there's this small feeling of guilt I sometimes have: I mean, what if there really are kids who'd like to have a toy like that to play with? I know many parents, here in Poland, like to buy pony lots off the interenet auctions etc. because they find it cheaper, then buying ones in a regular store (which can sometimes go for ridiculos prices) and they want to give their kid something. So in a sense I do feel kind of guilty, that I might've taken something that could've easily ended up being a child's toy, which could make him/her happy.


On the other hand, I do feel the need to buy certain ponies (G1 especially), because who knows what might happen to them if they end up in the wrong hands. And we all know how kids can sometimes be - cutting the pony's hair, painting stuff all over it, smearing it with lipstick and other cosmetics etc.. And after the kid gets tired of it, there are only couple of options where the pony might end up: being passed on to a younger relative, being sold to another person, being thrown away (the horror!), being given away to a charity/day care centre etc..

So in a sense, when I buy these ponies, I'm also saving them, in a sense, from a fate that might await them.

Coming back to the old lady, while she may have had her reason's to go into a rant, I don't think it was a nice thing of her: first of, you can buy whatever you want and it's really none of everyone else's buisness. Then, as many people before me have already pointed out, how does she know you're buying it for yourself? You could've bought this for a younger sister/cousin/niece for all she knew.

[aellos]

It's only stealing if you take it out of a children's hands. That and if I see a child eyeing something I plan on buying and legit asking her parents for it and they say yes? Then I'll leave it be and let them have it.

[Jenn77]

I have to admit it upset me a little, mostly I was surprised and embarrassed as no one has ever reacted to my collecting MLPs like that before, not to mention Ive never had a complete stranger come up to me and start ranting at me, my overly shy self wanted to crawl away and hide... 
Of course my goof ball friend wouldn't let me, she marched me to the checkout saying rather loudly  "she's probably one of those closet collectors and just wanted the pony for herself" lol

The older lady probably was and was irked that she didn't find the pony first..lol.. Really though not to pick on the older lady but that was kinda rude. I mean I could see if you grab the toy out of a kids hand (not that you would) for her to say something like that but I mean really.. Oh well some people will never understand other people's hobbies.  I wouldn't feel to bad about it

[hyenacub]

How did she know you weren't buying it for a little sister or something?  Judgmental people drive me crazy.   I would've laughed gleefully all the way to the register. 

LOL Fun mental picture...

"she's probably one of those closet collectors and just wanted the pony for herself"

[Wysteria]

Older people really just want someone to nag to sometimes. I work for Kohls (retail clothing store) and this past wed, (our senior day, go figure) I had 4 especially rude ones come up to me and just rant about everything they thought was wrong with our merchandise lol. I'm sorry I'm not a buyer or designer, I can't explain why this dress has a raw edge mesh, why our store is so huge and the bathrooms are only on one side, or why our clothing is so cheaply made and how come you can't find any nice dresses to wear for church...While it all comes off extremely rude and leaves you completely dumbfounded at the time, you just have to shrug it off and laugh;)

[TheBeatlesPkmnFan42]

Well, that's very rude to say. We're allowed to collect toys just as much as kids are. Especially since we generally take care of them lot more, too. Thank God I've never had an encounter like that.

[moondancer1]

I dont think you should feel bad!  I am sorry that she was so rude to you!  If ponies make you happy you are just as entitled to buy them as anyone else be it an adult or child.  Sounds like that lady was having a bad day. Congrats on finding the pony!   

[GloriaFan]

That's very...interesting? People just don't understand collectors. Just shake it off, though. When mothers and their daughters look at me strange whilst I am shopping in the pony aisle I proceed and smile politely. "U mad? Stay mad."

[babystarz]

ROFL, elderly people come up with the most creative ways to disapprove of people Honestly, the most interesting and odd complaints when I worked in retail came from seniors. I think the combination of being in pain (a lot of them have old injuries and arthritis and can't get around all that well) coupled with the world being so different culturally from when they were young just gets a lot of them them cranky. Which is not to say they're all like that of course.

I can totally see why you would be embarrassed, I would have been bright red if some nosy person came up to me and said that. Especially because it didn't even make any sense. How are you stealing from anyone if you're paying for an item? And how did she know you weren't buy the pony for a child in the first place? Anyway, try your best to shrug it off and don't let it prevent you from pony hunting in the future. There's nothing wrong with collectors and we're not harming anyone so really, it isn't anyone else's business what we buy and why we do it.

[TokiBear]

Wow, silly old lady... its none of her business why you are or aren't buying something.  And it most definitely isn't stealing lol I whenever anyone asks me why I'm buying ponies or even says, "oh, isn't that cute" when I check out, I always tell them its for one of my nieces.  Its just easier that way. haha

[Clementine]

why some little girl would come in here and love to have that toy! thats who should buy her! not adults who need to grow up"

At this point I would have gone off on a rant about gender stereotyping and that a little boy might like ponies just as much as a little girl might lol, if people want to nitpick and rant over other peoples actions, choices or statements than they should have no problem being nitpicked/ranted at themselves X)