Some people shouldn't breed

[Jay 2K Winger]

We occasionally get people who will try to dump their kids off at the food court in our wholesale club. There are chairs and tables, and more often than not, there's some family-friendly movie playing in the DVD/Blu-Ray player nearby in the electronics section.

That said, unless a parent is only going to get the car, we will not allow parents to dump their kids on us and go shop at Wally World or Yellow Tag Electronics or Tarjhey. My coworker CR will even flat-out tell people "If you leave them here to do that, that constitutes child abandonment. I'll call CPS on you."

[Lace Neil Singer]

According to this question, I am a serial killer. XD So watch out!

There doesn't even have to be a malicious other person involved. Kids can just wander off and never come back. He decides he's bored with the store, leaves, turns up as road pizza or at the bottom of a lake. I don't care how responsible you think your kids is, the truth is he is a kid and they don't think like adults.

That's why it bugs me when I read about trendy parents who let their eight year olds browse shops by themselves (yes, that PFB letter). Just cuz your eight year old is mature for his age, does not mean that he's safe to walk thru a store by himself. What if a group of older kids come in and start to bully him? What if he gets hurt by falling down or by shelving? What if there's an emergency, like a fire drill, and he gets scared and panicks? That is why children shouldn't be left on their own, even after taking serial killers and child abusers out of the spectrum.

[MrsEclipse]

There doesn't even have to be a malicious other person involved. Kids can just wander off and never come back. He decides he's bored with the store, leaves, turns up as road pizza or at the bottom of a lake. I don't care how responsible you think your kids is, the truth is he is a kid and they don't think like adults.

I'm also fascinated by serial killers because it's interesting to see how they think. I have a reason, it's kind of funny, but probably too gross to share here. I can't really tell anymore.

[Megg]

People disgust me. Serial killers usually look like everyone else, people! Otherwise they wouldn't get away with killing long enough to get the "serial" part. Not only that, but that kid could have been injured in the store, or broken something expensive, or just wandered off and gotten lost. Some people should not be allowed to breed. I cannot imagine being that indifferent to my child, the most important thing in my life. Poor kid.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I've been interested in serial killers ever since I was a young teen; comes from being a Marilyn Manson fan, I think. xD His band members all have names that come from starlets and serial killers. I have a ton of books on the subject. ^^

Yeah, Dahmer didn't kill any kids; my bet is on Ottis Toole, as well. Dahmer's MO was more picking up men from round the town and taking them home, rather than prowling around supermarkets.

[AccountingDrone]

I agree with earlier statements that Adam Walsh was to young for Dahmer... I'm mainly just popping in to say how happy it makes me that other, nice, normal (from what I can tell) people are as well-versed as I am on the topic of serial killers

2 of my favorite sites to hit are crime library and jack the ripper casebook

I have no idea why I find them so fascinating ... maybe relief i am not one? Prurient curiosity? Probably the same thing that makes people afficianados of horror movies.

[thatcrazyredhead]

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.

And, yanno, concern for the welfare of the child.

Parents these days are just too lazy to pay attention to their kids. When I used to work at Sears, a 3-year-old girl was separated from her father and 4 siblings. I had seen them near where I was working and the father was obviously not paying attention to any of his five kids. Seriously, it was like none of them were even there. Over an hour after I first saw them, a co-worker found the 3-year-old wandering the parking lot. CW brought the little girl inside, found her father, and told him what had happened. The father basically just grunted. He hadn't noticed she was missing, wasn't upset that she might have been hurt or worse, and didn't even thank CW for returning his daughter safely. This was years ago, but it pisses me off even now.

[XCashier]

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.

Right on! Hopefully this will put the kibosh on any more kid dumping. And it will give the employees a clear policy on what to do next time.

[mariamousie1]

Looks like it's time to call child services!

[vstorevigilante]

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.

I agree with earlier statements that Adam Walsh was to young for Dahmer... I'm mainly just popping in to say how happy it makes me that other, nice, normal (from what I can tell) people are as well-versed as I am on the topic of serial killers

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.