The Mom Shorts Story

[dalesys]

...Also, is it just me, or are these types of parents getting it WORSE as time goes by? Or am I just getting old and crotchety and less tolerant?

Yes

As we responded when wife was expecting & fools would ask: "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

[Peppergirl]

Yes

As we responded when wife was expecting & fools would ask: "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Is that a YES to the 'crotchety and intolerant' part? Or a YES to the part about parents getting worse?

[chainedbarista]

I hope when you bend over, you get a huge rip in your giant oversized Mom Shorts

hasn't the world been punished enough with her shrieking offspring?

i avoid the dreaded hellmart whenever possible, not because of the staff or store itself, but the hordes of milling sheeple that seem confused by all the pretty shinies on the shelves, signs with big numbers and bright lights.

[Primer]

I know I let myself in for it this morning (Sat.) but we really did need to make a grocery run for some necessities, and we had been too exhausted to make it out earlier in the week. DH had to use a gimp cart today, as his hip was hurting too much to walk that much. I ended up sending him for specific items, brand and quantity, and had him meet me back at dairy, since I had left my phone at the house. About all I remember of the trip (I've already blocked most of it out) was the screaming kids, the stockers having half of every aisle already blocked, the hordes of family reunions in the aisles, and the gangs of little kids not staying with the parents. I just located what I needed, and pretty much just grabbed and thew stuff into the cart.

Met up with DH, verified we had everything on the list, and instead of browsing for "luxuries" (meat, chips, crackers, tuna, frozen veggies, etc.) as we usually do, I just said to head to the checkouts!

I didn't even look for the shortest line, I just took the first one where I would not be behind any kids!

[calulu]

The best part about Wal Mart and the shrieking sheeple lambs are the total freakiness of some of the customers ala http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

[Jack7957]

The best part about Wal Mart and the shrieking sheeple lambs are the total freakiness of some of the customers ala http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

I'm gonna need an emergency meeting with my therapist after looking at that site.

[Ree]

The way they figure, if management treasures sucky parents like that more than customers who come in to be quiet and shop, that place doesn't need their business.

Unfortunately, it's hard to find anywhere where management will do anything about stuff like that.

It's the dollars they care about.

There is a perception among managers, and it's usually borne out with the daily receipts, that the family of screaming kids is probably going to bring in more money to that store in the long run.

The grocery bill will usually be higher.
If there are babies, you can maybe add in diapers, formula, bottles, etc.
Then there are the clothes.
Growing children go through shoes like nothing.
There are the "Back to school" supplies right now, but all through the year there will be school supplies required.
There are toys and games and sporting goods to be bought. The toys and sports gear change with the season and the ages of the children.
There are birthdays...theirs, and the ones whose birthday parties they attend.
There are gift giving holidays such as Christmas.

Moms talk and spread the word about places they shop, so that Mom is probably going to indirectly bring in several more families to top up the tills, just through word of mouth, and in turn, those Moms might bring in more...and so on. (Pretty basic rule of marketing.)

So, yeah, as annoying as it is...and believe me, I know just how annoying it is to listen to it, no manager in the world is going to risk losing business just to keep a screaming child quiet in the store.

[DerangedHermit]

I'm gonna need an emergency meeting with my therapist after looking at that site.

People should be able to go through life without seeing an old man with breast implants.

I'm ruined.

[Tiberious]

As much as it completely sucks for a person to do, after hearing all this, I can almost understand what motivated this to occur.

Edited to Add: I in no way condone the actions of the man involved. Just stating that the reasoning is rather sound.

[Ree]

I can almost understand what motivated this to occur.

That's already been posted...twice...and discussed at fratching...twice

[Tiberious]

Fair enough. Ok, so to get back onto topic somewhat, who's suckier in this instance: Mother of the Year, or Mr. Sunshine and Flowers?