WTF?! Disipline your damn kid!!!

[wolfie]

His parents would dump him in the pet store while they went and shopped. One of his fun things to do was to go to the fish section and bang on the fishtanks with both fists. -.- At times, I had fantasies about grabbing him by the collar and holding his head underneath the water of the fishtanks til the inevitable happened. Then the fish could eat him.

With a kid like that, I'd hope he'd stick his hands into one of the tanks - with the pirhannas. Seriously, if the parents routinely used the pet store as a free babysitting service, why not call mall security (or CPS) about the "abandoned" child? "Attractive to children" (pet/toy/book) stores need signs stating that no children under $specified_age are allowed on the premises without their parent or guardian. While SCs don't read signs, this would be a CYA measure for when the incubator or sperm donor got upset about CPS being called.

[KatherineB]

Perhaps the shop could set up a tank with piranhas for just such an occasion...

[TechieGirl87]

I know how you feel. I was coming back from the restroom when I see this little girl climbing on the side of a bin of $5 movies. This bin is huge and made of metal, something that could hurt someone climbing on it. So I kindly asked her not to climb on it. Well, later I find out the mother (who was standing right there - yeah, nice parenting skills) had complained saying I was rude to her daughter. Uh, no. I was asking your daughter not to climb on something that could hurt her. Therefore I was looking after her safety.

People are just unbelievable.

And I've actually yelled at kids to stop running in the store. At first I ask nicely, then I just yell at them. I've had a couple parents see their kids running, hear me telling them to stop, and jump in to scold their kids. Then of course I get those one or two parents who yell at me for saying something to their kid.

ME: *sees kid running by large 80" TV* Stop running in the store
AP (asshole parent): *walks over* Did you just tell my kid what to do?
ME: I told your kid to stop running in an area where he could hurt himself. I've seen plenty of people get hurt because they're running and I rather not have that happen to your son
AP: Don't you fucking talk to my kid like that! EVER! He's not your responsibility.
ME: You are absolutely right. He's not. You know what is? Making sure this place remains a safe and stress free environment. So if that means telling someone not to run in my department, then I'm going to tell them that. I don't care who it is. It isn't just for my sake or for yours, it's for the sake of your son. Oh, and don't swear at me again. It's uncalled for. Have a nice day *walks off*

[Lace Neil Singer]

With a kid like that, I'd hope he'd stick his hands into one of the tanks - with the pirhannas. Seriously, if the parents routinely used the pet store as a free babysitting service, why not call mall security (or CPS) about the "abandoned" child? "Attractive to children" (pet/toy/book) stores need signs stating that no children under $specified_age are allowed on the premises without their parent or guardian. While SCs don't read signs, this would be a CYA measure for when the incubator or sperm donor got upset about CPS being called.

We eventually got rid of Damien by having the supervisor take him to the manager's office, then, after letting the returning parents panick for a while, I called the supervisor who then gave Damien's parents a right bollocking and said that if they did it again, we'd call the police. That worked; they never used the pet store as a creche. And yeah, we did have signs up that said "The Pet Centre Is Not A Creche" but the people who needed to read those signs naturally never read them.