This is a store, not a playground.

[otakuneko]

I'd probably get fired for taking matters into my own hands and picking the brat up and putting her on the floor.

I consider that a sad state of affairs.

[MoonCat]

At least at Christmas time the children are more well-behaved because Mom and Dad are blackmailing them with the threat of no presents.

When I see a kid being a little brat in public, I want to lean down and whisper, "Santa's watching you right now."

[Plankton78]

When I see a kid being a little brat in public, I want to lean down and whisper, "Santa's watching you right now."

Guess what I'm doing this Christmas time to naughty children.

[bankworking]

Yeah, I like my kids and not a whole lot of others.

I do have one friend whose little boy I like. Very polite 8 year old. Maybe because he's not my kid, I overhear comments from others about how friend shouldn't "be so hard on his kid" when he corrects the little boy for failing to give a courtesy or committing a minor misbehavior. The people talking about how he shouldn't be so hard on the kid (he doesn't yell and isn't mean or anything, just sternly corrects) talk about how the kid is "such a good kid, so his dad should let this or that go". Um... the reason the kid is such s good kid is because his dad makes certain to correct him when his misbehaves. Yes, even in public. That's rather the most important time. And this is why his son is polite and well-behaved in general and your kid is... not.

[Estil]

http://youtu.be/lxtz1_7FCLo?t=18m35s

As you can see in this link this sort of thing is nothing new...luckily even this over permissive parent has his limits! While as a rule I don't normally like the idea of corporal punishment, there are exceptions to every rule and you bet this qualifies!

BTW, I wish people today would learn not to ride their bikes on the sidewalk... :P

[raudf]

I do have one friend whose little boy I like. Very polite 8 year old. Maybe because he's not my kid, I overhear comments from others about how friend shouldn't "be so hard on his kid" when he corrects the little boy for failing to give a courtesy or committing a minor misbehavior.

I swear, some people have no lives, if this is what they're worried about.

The father probably does let the kid learn things via "life lessons" (my oldest becomes extra careful when I use those words...), but those are usually things that aren't rude, won't kill the child (might hurt a little bit, though), and don't break laws. Everything else, the parent really should correct the child and if/when possible explain WHY they were being corrected. Also, things like manners? Those start at home, with the parent using them with the kid.

If a kid climbs a tree in a grassy or dirt area, fine. They might break a leg or an arm, but a childhood without some sort of scar isn't a childhood! Kids learn by doing and this is fine to let slide with a "be careful."

A kid climbing a gondola shelf, with concrete floor underneath? Concrete isn't the most forgiving surface to land on. Also, gondolas are a lot less stable than most trees, so chances are the kid is gonna drag it onto themselves and possibly customers and store employees. Also, it's actually highly rude, because it shows a lack of consideration for anyone else! A parent really needs to step in and well, parent up. If it was my kid climbing, he'd be getting corrected and probably losing use of all electronic devices for at least a week. (For my oldest, this is the ultimate punishment. He'd rather a spanking than that!)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

A kid climbing a gondola shelf, with concrete floor underneath? Concrete isn't the most forgiving surface to land on. Also, gondolas are a lot less stable than most trees, so chances are the kid is gonna drag it onto themselves and possibly customers and store employees.

The way our gondolas are at the swamp, that's a distinct possibility.

They're battered and jury-rigged to begin with because we've been putting them up and taking them down again for years. Also some of the people who build them just slap them together without using all the parts or making sure they're properly in place.

Then you get things like the endcap of Christmas jar candles pitching forward quite dangerously. The candles on the top shelves came verrrry close to sliding off the shelves and onto the floor.

[simplyanother]

When I was at Glitter Hell, kids would climb on the displays in the middle of the racetrack. The ones held together with cable ties. And wishes. They'd sit on the shelves and try climbing them. I had to get more than one toddler off of our tall ladders, because..."well, they do that all the time at home".... Because climbing your stairs is the same as climbing a ladder with nothing at the top but...a fall onto concrete.

My eldest son was acting like a dumbass in Walmart one day, and whacked his forehead on an endcap. Nasty scrape, lots of bleeding. Minor cut, just...you know, head wound. They of course went into full crisis must make sure mommy doesn't sue mode... Yes, I'm going to sue you because my son was doing something he shouldn't have been, and got hurt as a result. Wait, that's the way many people think. I don't get it.

The other day, a former co-worker was in the store with her kids, and they were climbing up onto the display case in the bakery. She didn't say a word to them. Just let them climb up like monkeys at a zoo. The hell?

I also dislike all children but my own. And my nieces and nephews. Because I know that I can tell them to knock it off...and they will. And their parents usually won't give me grief about it.

[notalwaysright]

My eldest son was acting like a dumbass in Walmart one day, and whacked his forehead on an endcap. Nasty scrape, lots of bleeding. Minor cut, just...you know, head wound. They of course went into full crisis must make sure mommy doesn't sue mode... Yes, I'm going to sue you because my son was doing something he shouldn't have been, and got hurt as a result. Wait, that's the way many people think. I don't get it.

Years ago, this happened at my store. Little kid, whacked his head on an endcap and ended up with a gash. Except the lady DID threaten to sue. She said the shelf was unsafe because it fell after the kid hit it. Since this was right by the registers, we actually had security footage. Of the boy, running like crazy in circles four registers (around 20 feet) away from where the mom was standing, checking out, with her back to the boy. So the lawsuit went nowhere, thankfully. Don't parents worry about their precious little one's being abducted? Someone could have scooped up the kid (who was barely more than a toddler) and walked out the front doors in less than 10 seconds.

[otakuneko]

BTW, I wish people today would learn not to ride their bikes on the sidewalk... :P

I was taught and required TO ride my bike on the sidewalk.

Then again pedestrians are as rare as hen's teeth around here. One wonders why we have sidewalks at all.

[raudf]

It's this mentality of SCs that store personnel are suppose to watch their offspring that I don't get. If they were paying them to be babysitters that's one thing, but we're not. We're paying for a product that they sell. No where do watching kids come into that transaction!

But apparently it's the store's fault that their kid got hurt while they were shopping. Lady, did that kid get hurt because he was climbing the shelves or did the shelves fall on him while he was walking beside them? While both are negligence, there's a world of difference between the two. The latter would be the store's fault. The former is all yours.

[Plankton78]

The shelves in our store are very narrow crammed with toys and directly above the shelves are various pegs for the rest of the toys. Although the shelves might be stables enough, there's still toys all the kids feet and if she had fell, grabbing the pegs wouldn't do anything but slice her hand open. I feel sorry for that kid. I really do.

[Lady_Pigeon]

Imagination running wild here...

They run about unsupervised. In my department that's a terrible gamble. If you even look at a tube of shampoo wrong it just might get its friends to jump off the shelves onto the floor with it.

Is it wrong that I'd pay to see this? "There's one! GERONIMO!!!"

Hubs tells the story of the ONE tantrum he threw... Parents left the shopping cart behind and apologized to employees, and they just went home. Last time he threw a tantrum...

[Totiono]

I'm constantly having to tell children at my job to not climb railings. They're kids and it is a theme park so I can understand they just get excited and want a better view of things so I try to be as nice as possible about it. Luckily most of the time after being told once they listen. Sometimes I'll even turn a blind eye if they're not particularly high up or if there isn't any sort of danger like a severe drop on the other side of the railing.

But I also deal with the kids that don't listen and the parents who see me tell their children to get down several times yet do nothing to stop them. Logically one would think that the railings are in place for a reason and me telling their children to not climb them is, well, also for a reason. Especially in the "wet" stadiums where the railings are often wet and slippery. I don't do these things to be a jerk set out to ruin everyone's fun. Most of the time it is genuinely for the kid's safety. But the parents shoot me dirty looks. I'm willing to bet these are also probably the type of people that would instantly try to sue the park if their child did in fact slip off the railing and was injured.

[downforit2008]

It's times like this where I wish a woman or man acting like THIS kind of jackass will lose all their luck and end up working in Retail. PAYBACK TIME!!! And that goes for the screaming, spoiled spawn they have too!

Perhaps working Retail will get you off your high horse of a pedestal and make you truly HUMBLE for a while.