Some people shouldn't breed

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

uh, yeah, that's a clear case of needing to call the police for child abandonment. He left the building, all bets are off.

QFT. That father needs to be taught a SERIOUS lesson.

I will be the first one to admit that children can, at times, be a burden, but that in NO WAY excuses parents from their responsibilities. You can't just get rid of them when you want to, sometimes you have to suck it up.

[Lots42]

Yes, because it is perfectly ok to abandon your kid in a regular toy store.

[underemployeed]

Last night, when I was running around filling stuff off the truck, I noticed a little girl running around with no parents seemingly in sight, until somebody called out to her from the optical department.

Then the girl was screwing around in makeup, opening up tubes of lipstick and putting it on her mouth. We had to go round up all the tubes she had opened and applied to her face and have them marked defective. Of course, no word about this from the parents in optical.

Then later on I noticed this girl wandering around the back of the store, with the parents no place to be found AGAIN. Somebody could've grabbed the kid and been out the door and mommy and daddy would never have known.

no they would have made a plea on the news and gotten free stuff. and just made another

[RebeccaOTool]

My mother never left me in a store by myself until I was at least 12 or 13. I don't understand how parents can just leave their kids alone somewhere and go.

[Kristev]

9 years old for me, Riverside California. But it was only around our neighborhood, and I always proved myself to be reliable. We lived three blocks away from a rather nice shopping center.

But this person needs to have the cops called on them. When I was a kid in 1988, it was a different world (I know it really wasn't, but it seems like it) than it is today. Today, any jackass could snatch a kid.

If a kid's on his own a in mall 30 minutes, okay. More than that, ring up child services.

[WageSlaveofDoom]

guess who else was in the mall that day?
Jeff Dahmer.

I need to make copies of that story and staple them to the children I see being dragged around the city. Maybe I should leave them on the busses like Chick tracks...

If I illustrate the story, maybe that will get people to be less douchy when it comes to abandoning their kids...

Seriously? I don't babysit. If a child is left for more than ten minutes, I'm calling the cops. Kids need strong role models, and who's stronger than the policeman telling daddy he's a jerk? *^_^*

[Chromatix]

And then there are people like Jon Venables.

[XCashier]

Five minutes before the store closed, the child finally bought the cheapest item in the store. He then asked to borrow my cell phone so he could call his dad to come back to the mall to pick him up.

The man had not only left the store, he'd left the mall and had gone all the way to the far side of town. The store's manager took the kid to the security office to wait for his father. I got a call from my friend after I went home informing me that it took an hour before anyone came to get the kid.

Security should've called CPS on that dad. You do not just abandon your child in a store, I don't care how many errands you have to run, if you are a parent, you have a responsibility to your child. Either hire a babysitter or take him with you.

Worse, if the kid went missing from your store, Daddy Dearest could've sued you for everything you have. You might want to talk to your manager and coworkers and see if you can come to a solution about abandoned children, when to call the police, etc.

[bainsidhe]

I think what this parent did was disgusting (the nerve of people! ), but I appreciate how employees have to play nice with "customers" and follow policy. No doubt calling CPS or the police is frowned upon by store policy.

Regardless, it should be appropriate to tell sucky parents that unattended children will result in a call to security. Let security handle calling CPS or the cops, they're duty is to ensure the safety of mall patrons. Plus you're still being polite but in a threatening sort of way.

[Mouse]

I'm pretty sure one of my managers at the we r toys i once worked at stuck cps on someone.

I was at the far registers and nearly off so i never got the full story, but aparently the kid came up alone to buy something and the cashier questioned where the parent was, only to find out they'd dumped the kid and made a run to costco O-o

If i can't emediately figure out who a childs parents are in the video rental store i work at I'll loudly ask "and who's are you?" which gets the parents atention

[Lace Neil Singer]

And then there are people like Jon Venables.

Or Mary Bell. They'd be far more a scary prospect to your child than Jeffrey Dahmer; firstly, they're still alive. Second, they were both children killing children. Oh yeah, and Jeffrey Dahmer didn't murder children; his youngest victim was thirteen.

*sorry, threadjack there*

Anyway, some people just see a store and see this magic sign that says, "This is a creche. Leave your kid here and the staff will take care of them!" Used to happen in the pet store I used to work at a lot.

[AccountingDrone]

I'm just tasteless enough to put signs in my store that tell the story of Adam Walsh, who was abducted from a shopping mall when he was 6 years old. He was later found...or...HIS HEAD was later found in a river.

The crime was thought to have been committed by Ottis Toole, but guess who else was in the mall that day?

Jeff Dahmer.

If I ever have kids I'll let that be a lesson, they better stick close or somebody just might pick them up. You never know who's in the mall with you.

Dahmer wasn't a pedophile, per se. The closest he could be considered would be a partial ephebephile [he did have 2 teenaged victims, both 14 but the balance were 19-26, with 2 in their 30s.] His thing was creating a zombie to stay with him [talk about your abandonment issues ] He would not have been interested in Adam Walsh.

[EvilAuthor]

I don't work with my friend at the store in question. I was only there to help out during an event, do some of my own shopping, and keep my friend company. I didn't want to get my friend in trouble, so I refrained from sassing the dad as he whined and complained about how annoying it was to have to actually be near his own child.

After wards though, it was a different story. As a customer, I complained to the store's manager about the kid and his total lack of a dad. Last check, there is now a sign in the store proclaiming that children under 14 aren't to be left unattended at all.
And unofficially, employees are now allowed to be rube to parents who attempt to dump their kids on the store.

Behold the power of legitimate complaint.

[Gaki]

Dahmer wasn't a pedophile, per se. The closest he could be considered would be a partial ephebephile [he did have 2 teenaged victims, both 14 but the balance were 19-26, with 2 in their 30s.] His thing was creating a zombie to stay with him [talk about your abandonment issues ] He would not have been interested in Adam Walsh.

Thus the murder was attributed to Ottis Toole, but then again, Ottis confessed to nearly everything under the sun along with his buddy Henry Lee Lucas. You never know who's done what. Who knows? You don't ever know what Dahmer would do. His MO WAS cutting heads off.

My vote goes for Toole.

[mikoyan29]

I think what this parent did was disgusting (the nerve of people! ), but I appreciate how employees have to play nice with "customers" and follow policy. No doubt calling CPS or the police is frowned upon by store policy.

Regardless, it should be appropriate to tell sucky parents that unattended children will result in a call to security. Let security handle calling CPS or the cops, they're duty is to ensure the safety of mall patrons. Plus you're still being polite but in a threatening sort of way.

It's not a case of playing nice with customers. it would be more of a case of the store covering themselves. I mean what if the kid does go up missing. Guess who is probably going to end up with the blame.