I happen to agree with you. The man who bought 23 pies acted out to hurt the child, which made zero sense, because the issue was not the pies to start with....it was the lack of attention the boy was getting from the mother at home. The pies just gave the boy a place to divert that anger to get attention in a negative way.
So you would have given the kid the F’n pie?
Maybe taking him home and making him eat 23 pies for dinner would be the way to go.
No I would not have given the boy a pie, there would have been NO PURCHASE and we would have left and gone home to deal with his swearing and his fit. He would have went to his room, and he would have stayed there until he apologized, then he could have had lunch or whatever that meal was. There would have been no TV for a week for the cuss word.
Note that I would have dealt with the child on two issues....the fit, acting out. And then with the cuss word. Those are two separate issues. I would have given him the negative attention he wanted in a way that would have a positive return. The less television he watched from then on would end some of that bad attitude....no video games, and no cell phone (of course a child that small would not have a cell phone in my house)...just covering the electronic basis.
So he had better start to like reading or drawing.