A couple weeks ago, I was shopping at the local Ross. The loud speaker was begging parents to take control of their children. When a child walked in front of me and threw a hanger, I asked the grandmother to please watch him. The next thing I knew, the mother was confronting me and telling me that it was just a baby. Well if it is just a baby, why is he allowed to run wild in the store? By the way the local Ross store has a staggering amount of broker merchasdise. Wonder why?
Children running wild costs store owners money and make everything cost more. People please control your children in the store, or leave them home. If they start screaming or misbehaving, take them out of the store. It is really simple to teach a child proper behavior. You just don't allow the bad behavior to continue.
Children running wild at a store like Walmart, etc., holds other dangers--several have been abducted in our area over the years. How hard can it be to snatch a wee one when the parents aren't paying the least bit of attention to anything but their shopping?
Yeah and when he is 18 years old and pulls a gun on a convenient store clerk, she'll be whining about her poor little "baby."
"...just a BABY..."
My wife and I came to an understanding pretty quickly on that one:
Our oldest was crawling and pulling up, and was determined to pull up on the hearth in the den, where he could have been hurt if he fell on the corners of the bricks.
I went over the first time, picked him up, and looked him in the face, and said "NO".
He persisted. This time, I added a gentle swat on his bare leg.
He persisted. The third time, I made sure he felt the swat. He cried, whereupon my lovely bride went into ATTACK mode. "HE'S JUST A BABY! HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND!"
I looked calmly at the woman I loved and said, "We have a DOG in the backyard who understands 'NO'. Are you telling me THAT DOG is smarter than YOUR CHILD?" End of discussion.
By the way, that was the last time he ever tried to pull up on the bricks. (No, I refused to pad the hearth. We did cover the electrical outlets, though. There are too many, and that's a bit more difficult to teach.)
Funny you should mention merchandise. I have noted that a local Marshall's store, which used to be tidy with well-displayed merchandise, is now full of opened packages of perfume and other toiletries. Lots of stuff scattered on the floor, etc. I hate to say it, but along with unruly kids, there are apparently many adults who frequent the store and think it's OK to rip open sealed packages to see if they like how something smells. I don't get this culture of disrespect.