The sunbather turned to social media for advice after the stranger called her behaviour ‘selfish’
A woman has hit back after she was called ‘selfish’ for sunbathing in a field. Posting on Mumsnet, the woman claimed she ‘got told off by a random bloke’ who was worried she was experiencing a medical emergency.
Explaining her side of the story, she wrote: “This was a new one on me and I would like opinions please. I went out for the day with [my husband]. We went to a National Trust place and took lunch with us. After we’d looked round, we went back to the car, got our lunch and sat in the field next to the carpark.
“So we were away from everyone but there were lots of people going to and from the carpark, so we could be seen. After we’d eaten, [my husband] said he wanted to make a work call and would sit in the car. I said I’d stay in the sun for a bit before joining him. I stretched out on the grass in the sun.
“I didn’t have a sun hat or sunscreen with me but I did have a shirt over my tee shirt so I took the shirt off and draped it over my head. After about ten or 15 minutes I remembered that I’d seen cow poo in the field, and had this vision of finding myself surrounded by cows, so I sat up.”
She added: “There was a bloke walking towards me across the field. He stopped, turned round and went back to the gate, where he was talking to another bloke. I sat there for another minute and they were looking at me and talking. When I got up and walked down to the gate, the conversation went like this (no “Hello” or anything):
Him: You shouldn’t do that, you know. Stretch out in a field like that. Me: Oh, are there cows? I did wonder. Him: No, not cows. We thought you were ill. You could’ve fainted, had a heart attack, epileptic fit, diabetic… Me: Really? So people shouldn’t sunbathe? Him: Not alone, no. You should have someone with you. Unless it’s your garden. Then the friend chimed in: Yes, it’s really selfish. We were worried. You shouldn’t make people worry like that.”
The woman explained that she thanked the strangers for their concern ‘through gritted teeth’ then went on her way, but she wasn’t happy about the interaction. “It spoilt my day,” she said. As such, she wanted to know what others thought.
She wrote: “How many people having epileptic fits etc bother to drape a shirt over their head? How does he cope on the beach? Does he go round checking? I often go on my own – am I selfish? What about parks? It’s common in London parks. Would he have told off a bloke? A friend IRL agrees with him.”
Someone replied: “I don’t really see the issue. If I saw someone laying on the ground in the local cow fields, I wouldn’t expect them to be sunbathing. He was concerned and it gave him a scare. Perhaps he has previously found someone that was deceased or in need of medical attention that made him extra vigilant. I don’t think people can automatically assume they wouldn’t have mentioned it, if it had been a man lying there.”
But another comment said: “If he was genuinely worried he would have approached you asking if you were ok. I think I’ve heard everything now. He’d best not visit the park near me on a hot day! ha! Lots of people laying around in the sun.”
