Yes, I would be irritated!! It is not dissimilar to inviting someone inside your house and then dragging their finger across a table or shelf and saying you need to dust more often!! Really?? Who elected you to be housekeeping or garden keeping monitor??

Yes, had a great party and compliments on my gardens! (veggie and ornamental).

I am incapable of clarity when my head is exploding LOL! I really admire those who stay cool as the proverbial cucumber :0)

If the person was about to do the squashing (or whatever action), I’d probably do the Don’t do that! reaction to get them to stop before they took action, and then in a calmer voice say Sorry, but [insert appropriate explanation]. I actually do this far too often :-). If the person was a gardener and knew what s/he was doing (e.g. they said something like ‘Oh look, a nasty [whatever - and named the bug] You need to kill that ASAP’. I might let them do it and then ask for more information afterwards.

Well I would be irritated too! Some people are so presumptuous. I would never presume to do anything in someone else's garden.

I have never had anyone squish a bug but if they did I think I couldn't help but react. I had a lady bend down to pluck what she thought was a weed (not!), that elicited a "Stop that", others have walked in beds to get a closer look at something when stepping stones are right there for that purpose.

I think the worst and most shocking was a friend I was sharing a plant with tossed the clump of it full of dirt on the stone dust walkway. I was mortified but said nothing. I really expected her to know better. We all need better educated friends and acquaintances lol!

That would make me crazy. Even my husband knows to look but don't touch in the garden! Many people freak out when they see any creepy crawly thing. I watered yesterday with a tiny praying mantis on my shoulder along for the ride. :)

I would absolutely have presumed to do this in a garden in the old days. The former thought was, "All bugs are bad," and I would have 100% thought I was being a really helpful person by squashing all those bad bugs. I don't judge your guest too harshly. But, if it had been my garden I would have then explained to her (hopefully calmly after the initial, "NOOOOOoooooo!") how much I love bugs. Would have probably taken her to my milkweed and talked about how excited I was just waiting for all the bugs to appear. If she didn't stop, that would be a different matter. Even in my old ignorant days of thinking all bugs were bad, I would have NEVER done anything to oppose the guest's wishes once I knew what they were.

As an alternative, if I was thinking fast, I would have also taken her to a leafy area and set her loose on slugs. If there was beer at the party, next time give her a glass of whatever's in the keg and set her loose with the freedom to get every slug she can, but never ever ever touch any other bug!

I kill slugs without mercy.

(Now I'm thinking if I can invite any slug-squashing guests over. None come to mind right now.)

b*tchy "don't do that! Yep! Sounds about right!

Yeah, I don't have a problem with that answer, lol!

:)
Dee

I wouldn't be ok with it. Not unless it was a stinging insect about to attack her or me. But not a bee, most people don't really want to swat or squish a bee anyway for fear of getting stung. ha

I would probably have a similar “head exploding” reaction in my own yard. But, it’s fascinating to hear the vast range of gardening “styles” that exist. I was being given a tour of my SIL’s vegetable garden, along with her 17-year-old son. He saw a spider and immediately crushed it. Further discussion revealed that they never use manure in the garden, despite being surrounded by horse and cow people. And, they won’t use mulch because it looks “messy.” These are folks who have been raising much of their own vegetables for canning or freezing for decades, and the husband hunts and makes jerky out of his game, as well as meats on sale at the grocery. But, the men in the family don’t put much emphasis on science in general, despite the mom and daughter being nurses. To each their own, I guess. I did explain my own approach to gardening, and I have succeeded at several crops in my first year that they have struggled with for years. Maybe I will help move them in a more productive direction.

Martha

Yes I would be irritated but I would more than likely not say anything directly.

I would think that bug could have been eaten by something else and where there's one hopefully there's more.

I would have definitely looked surprised! I might have muttered oh I wonder what kind of butterfly that was going to be.

In the vein of Back to the Future I'm afraid I'm just not very good at confrontations.

https://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/back-to-the-future/not-good-at-confrontation