Clueless Behavior

12.05.2010

I know that it’s easy for me to say what I’m about to say because I don’t have a kid, that I can pick up and go, and I don’t have to worry about all the little things that come with having a kid. So, having said that, I’m still going to continue writing because I don’t think what I am about to complain about has so much to do with having a kid as it is being the kind of human being one was to begin with (i.e., before the kid).

I really dislike it when parents do or allow for the following:

- letting a child scream his/her head off in the store while continuing to shop as if nothing's wrong.

- allowing the child to eat unpaid for product while shopping. (I used to work at Wild Oats Markets and saw this on a daily basis. It is a health hazard and the store can – and will – get cited and marked down for allowing customers to do this.) It also makes it too easy for the parent to conveniently forget to pay for the product once at the check-out. My “favorite” was this woman who'd come into Wild Oats with her hella spoiled son, allow him to eat the top part of a muffin and then leave the bottom part somewhere hidden in the store for us to find, like it’s a treasure hunt in which we couldn’t wait to partake. If the kid’s hungry, feed him/her before going into the store or use the moment as a teaching tool that it's important to eat something once it's paid for because, before then, it's not yours. It still belongs to the store.

- the next happens especially when a store is swarming with customers: A parent with a kid of about 5 or 6 rides in the shopping cart (for which he/she is too big) and the parent stops in the middle of the path, goes off somewhere while the kid is left behind to kick the air out of boredom or do whatever while totally clueless that there are other customers trying to get by.

Once again, as the parent, you set an example to your kid(s) in how to behave and what’s acceptable or not. We all have to share this world and people appreciate those who share and who are considerate.