customers and their Kids

[mattm04]

Yesterday, while helping a customer I noticed their kid maybe 5-6 had wandered off from their side. I expected the parent to notice, but they did not. Once the kid got about 5 feet away, i told the parent their child had wandered off. SC got the kid, brought him back to their side and i finished the conversation. About 20 minutes later i hear "Attention all associates: CODE ADAM, <child description> any information call extension XXX." Well, the same parent had let he kid wander off and the kid ended up at the other end of the store. Some other employee happened to see the kid a few seconds after the announcement, and brought the kid to the front. But this get's better. The parent, thinking the kid had been kidnapped called 911 on her cell phone, prompting a police response. we have 5-7 minutes to find the child before the police are notified. Well the police took a report on the PARENT for not watching her child, since a customer came froward and told the police they had to bring her kid back to the parent also.

[AriRashkae]

Good!

Now, I'll grant, mine have gotten away from me from time to time. Nature of the beast, and all that.

But 3 times in one shopping trip? That's just said parent being a dip$hit.

[iradney]

I used to wander as a kidlet - so my mom used a leash
Even if the kid is right by your side, you just have to be distracted for a few seconds in order for someone to nap the kid.

[Soulstealer]

I was one of those kids who wandered off a lot. I'd either see something shiny and go off in that direction or I'd be looking at something and my parents would move on ahead. They never called the police and it never happened more than once per trip. Of course that was at about 15 years ago before everyone was afraid of pedophiles and there was only one mall in my area instead of the 4 and other build up.

I suppose it didn't help that instead of looking for an associate I'd try to find my parents by myself. I was an independant (read:stupid) five year old. Sadly enough this still happens to me on occasion but now I have a cell phone.

[rerant]

The store actually announces that a child is lost and gives their description!? :wow:
At my store we have a special code for missing children and NEVER is anyone allowed to tell a customer what that code means and NEVER would any one announce a description of a missing child.
As soon as the code is announced ever manager in the store is obligated to rush to the department specified (where the child was last seen) and LP guards all exits and if the child isn't found in 10 minutes the store goes on complete lock-down. No one in, no one out, doors are locked and the police are called.
To fully announce to a well-populated store what a missing child is wearing, or even that there is a missing child in the store at all, is so unsafe.
I would personally lose my shit if I were the parent of a missing child and a store did that.

[mattm04]

We use the procedures from "Code Adam"from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

[Andara Bledin]

Well, one thing about announcing everything about the missing child: It almost guarantees that a kidnapper won't be leaving with them.

That is, as long as the store announces when the child is found, anyway. Otherwise the rightful guardian won't be leaving with them easily, either.

I don't quite understand why the announcement is unsafe, myself.

^-.-^

[ArenaBoy]

Of course that was at about 15 years ago before everyone was afraid of pedophiles and there was only one mall in my area instead of the 4 and other build up.

My great-grandmother once said that the reason we hear more about child abductions and the like is because of the increased availability of the media around us. She also said that those things happened then but we only had a lack of media at the time. (Lack as in no CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or any other specialized news channel that I can think of from the top of my head.)

[Bloodsoul]

Oddly enough, had my great great great.. whatever grandfather not been kidnapped, I wouldn't be here.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

Oddly enough, had my great great great.. whatever grandfather not been kidnapped, I wouldn't be here.

that story sounds interesting

[NightAngel]

I had a cool thing briefly when my oldest son was little. It looked like 2 pagers and you attatched one to the inside of your kid's clothes and the parent had the other.
If your child moved outside of a certain amount of feet from you an alarm would sound on the child. The parent's pager would also emit an alarm that would get louder if you were moving away from your kid and softer as you got closer.

So, basically if someone tried to snatch the kid and run- first they'd be dealing with this loud alarm sounding so everyone around them would know.

The parent could track the kid using their pager.

Alternately, the parent would always know if the kid was sneaking off. I'd attatch it inside the cuff of my son's pant leg so it wasn't obvious. That sucker locked on to so it wasn't easy for a child or a kidnapper to take off.

The sad thing was that I broke it and could never find another one.

[MacPrince]

The sad thing was that I broke it and could never find another one.

Would this be it?

[TerranRich]

This reminds me of a story from when I worked at Home Depot. I was helping a couple with a kid looking for faucets, when the mother casually looked around and called for her son's name a few times. I saw that the kid had run off. She then shrugged and continued to talk about faucets. I finished with them quickly and walked down a few nearby aisles, and I saw him...at the very top of a 20-foot metal ladder, reaching out into the overstock shelves. I nearly freaked, but stayed calm to coax the child back down, which was easier than I would've thought. I brought the kid back to his parents and told them where he had been. They thanked me...casually again...and continued to look at faucets.

Idiots.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Would this be it?

I like that idea . . . that should go over much better than wrist or body leashes.

[Andara Bledin]

My great-grandmother once said that the reason we hear more about child abductions and the like is because of the increased availability of the media around us. She also said that those things happened then but we only had a lack of media at the time. (Lack as in no CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, or any other specialized news channel that I can think of from the top of my head.)

And your great-grandmother was absolutely correct, too. If you take a look at the crime statistics for the US, you will see that the per capita violent crime rate is and has been declining fairly steadily since the '70s. Coincidentally, about the same time both the Atari and Dungeons & Dragons were first released.

that story sounds interesting

Yeah, I wanna hear that story, too.

^-.-^