Remove the TEN-YEAR-OLD from the carriage, please

[Monterey Jack]

Anyone else in the grocery business notice how many parents continue to let their children ride inside their shopping carts WELL past the age of common sense? There was this kid in a cart the other day who literally had his knees jacked up under his chin just so he could fit in the damn thing, and -- of course -- when I politely asked the father if the child could be removed so I could actually put groceries in there, I got the usual "Oh, just put them on/around him, he won't mind!" When I was ten years old, I certainly wasn't allowed to ride inside the grocery carriage anymore. Why? Because I was too old. No wonder today's generation of kids is so spoiled...they continue to be treated like five-year-olds until they're twelve or older.

[bainsidhe]

I agree it looks odd, yet at the same time, I'd rather see that than a 10 yr-old dangling off the cart or doing wheelies with it.

[AnaKhouri]

My older son IS 5 and I don't allow him to ride in the cart, it's too dangerous for him to climb into it himself and I can't lift him, he's a big kid. He's fine with walking.

[thatcrazyredhead]

I can't say I've seen a lot if that with grocery carts, but I've seen kids who look 12 in strollers at Disneyland. I weep for the future of humanity.

[fireheart]

I can't say I've seen a lot if that with grocery cats, but I've seen kids who look 12 in strollers at Disneyland. I weep for the future of humanity.

Question: do those kids have a disability?

If not, then that makes more sense.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

A couple of months back I saw a kid who looked around 10+ standing in a cart at the local KMart. Well, I actually heard him first. 'Muuum! Muuuuum!!! MUUUUUMMM!!!!!!' at top volume, as Mum pushed him around. As I said, standing in the cart, so he was yelling right in her face. Dad was walking alongside the cart, with the smaller kid walking too. The parents were totally ignoring him yelling.

I was there for over an hour and this kid did.not.shut.up the whole time. I made a charitable assumption that there was A Story I didn't know, and took my headache home with me.

[Argabarga]

Well, at least they didn't cave..... there may be hope yet.


Aw hell, who am I kidding? 8 years from now, I'll be hearing that same plea of Mummmmm mummmmmm mummmmmmm!!!! over the cellphone as junior pleas with her to wire him some money so he can get his car out of impound.

[notalwaysright]

I stopped commenting on older kids in shopping carts or strollers after everyone (these are people I know and like, mind you) was in favor of it. "Well, at least they aren't running around wild!" And my mind goes, but don't they need to learn at some point? But I'm not a parent, so I can't say things like that. I just look away... Oh, that reminds me, the other day there was a lady with a double wide stroller, and the two kids in it looked to be 7-8 years old. They both were watching shows on their own tablets. The mom had to throw her whole weight into pushing the stroller, and even other shoppers gave her the evil eye 'cause our store has narrow aisle and she went around the place like 15 times.

I can't say I've seen a lot if that with grocery cats, but I've seen kids who look 12 in strollers at Disneyland. I weep for the future of humanity.

Since kids and me are like water and oil, when I was in Cali with a high school group, I BEGGED to switch theme parks from Disneyland to Six Flags. I was overruled, and spent a truly miserable day in the Happiest Place on Earth. I actually noticed tons of infants who were having equality horrible days. Bonus for them is they won't remember any of it. Also, Space Mountain was closed for maintenance.

[Ben_Who]

Question: do those kids have a disability?

If not, then that makes more sense.

I suppose it might, but at that age, and considering those conditions, their parents would furnish the carriage if that's the case. It can't be safe to shove a ten-year-old into a corporate stroller.

It's getting towards the Christmas season again, and they're starting to show up at Local Mall - corporate-provided strollers with twelve-year-olds wedged in them, being pushed by their Moms. The strollers are built for toddlers; the kids want a ride to the GameStop and Hot Topic and probably outweigh the target age group for the device by sixty pounds. The first time I saw a mall stroller with an eight-year-old in it, my jaw just about dropped. Now I see them every weekend.

[AnaKhouri]

The ones that make me shake my head are the strollers with room for three children (always sighted in a mall for some reason). It holds one child of six or seven- big enough to walk-, and the mother is pushing it and carrying the baby on her hip. I always think, "What happened to the third kid?! Did you lose it in Yankee Candles or something?"

[Monterey Jack]

I agree it looks odd, yet at the same time, I'd rather see that than a 10 yr-old dangling off the cart or doing wheelies with it.

Or riding underneath the cart, which always infuriates me. Some other customer comes barreling around a corner and slams into the cart with a kid underneath, and the kid is possibly going to be seriously injured...and yet the parent will always give me grief when I ask them to please coax their kids out from under there. It's not only common sense, but it's also store policy (and even illustrated on the carts themselves ). One time at the register, I politely asked a customer to please remove their kid from under the carriage, and the kid's knee got wedged in-between two of the metal slats, and while the kid understandably starts freaking out that he's trapped, the parent says to me, "This is where you tell me 'I told you so', right?" No, this is where I slap you upside the head, in a just world. Another time, I asked a different customer to remove their kid from under a cart for the second time in as many days, and she starts going off on me about "don't tell me how to manage MY kid!", and the usual bullshit. Okay, fine, hope you have medical insurance to cover the gaping scalp wound the kid is inevitably going to receive if you persist is letting them ride barely two inches above the floor.

[otakuneko]

If I had a store, I'd have liability waiver forms ready to go for such people. Wanna let your kid ride underneath? Sign right here or out the door with you.

[bainsidhe]

Or riding underneath the cart, which always infuriates me.

Ugh, that too. And quite often, the cart runs over the kids fingers.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

If I had a store, I'd have liability waiver forms ready to go for such people. Wanna let your kid ride underneath? Sign right here or out the door with you.

I see some of that happening at my store as well . . . we're not allowed to say a word to the parents (that would be bad customer service, after all.)

And it's just a question of time before a kid gets hurt doing that crap - be interesting to see what Management has to say about that then.

AT least we're not dealing with those blasted Heelies . . . glad that fad left as quick as it came. Otherwise we'd have seen a lawsuit or two already.

[Dreamstalker]

I still see the Heelies in my store. No way to really ban them as they aren't obvious until the kid starts zooming around the place and getting in the way of our U-boats (which are hard to steer and stop even when not loaded to the gills with cases of water).