Rearranging
From time to time, I would hear this from a customer when I pointed out that their child was “over-handling” our merchandise… it would drive me crazy! Does slobbery hands mean nothing!? I would not buy a new book with kid drool on it!!! Hello?!
I used to get Kids poking their fingers into the icing on cookies and squares. The best was when one little guy decided to sit on the shelf- and sat on a tray of brownies. Cute, but whyyyy?
Waaaaaait a minute…I recognize that child.
IT’S BABY BRIDGETT!!!
Well, they are on YOUR property (store) and I guess you have to decide if you need to ask them to leave or not. Many stores have the sign that says to keep your children with you at all times. When I have kids I plan on keeping track of them and not letting them destroy things in stores….
Cosh… Did you work in a bakery? I might be tempted to slap a wooden spoon in my hand whilst giving the evil eye to one of the li’l buggers poking my icing.
Fingers… I thank you whole-heartedly in advance.
Dada… wait, are you Gigglepants, my old playmate!
On a sad note, yesterday our friend Joe Minotaur, Pibgorn Blog Comments Master, “lost an old friend.” “It’s as if a million voices suddenly cried out in terror… and then… silence.” Pibgorn comments are no more. Please join me in a group hug for Joe.
Breaking radio silence, well not exactly, but you know what I mean.
Thank-you Brig for the flowers, urp, they were delicious. Hugs all around!
We are working on re-establishing our community on an independent forum that was set up last year for different reasons. “We can make it better. Better? Stronger, faster.”
And we are not letting the comments forum for Pibgorn die without expressing our displeasure. The artist has received a virtual earful but still does not understand what the comments site meant to the many posters. Think of it as being told that you can no longer stay in touch with your best friend because your parents are not speaking to their parents.
Anything else I might say on the subject would be too painful and would not belong here.
I’m glad that this is a place where I can leave that behind me and move on. Thank-you all so much!
Back when I was working in the amusement arcade in Folkestone, we would often end up with parents would allow their little darlings to use the place as a playground while they blew their dosh on the slot machines. A lot of the time, us floorwalkers often ended up being unpaid babysitters… *mutter*
Joe: Sorry to hear about your problems with Pibgorn – but it’s good that you’ll be able to resurrect the community in some form. And I can totally identify with the parents analogy, because I’ve lived through a feud between my family and my aunt and uncle, and wasn’t supposed to talk to my cousin. We soon disobeyed that little order…
Brig: Oh, I forgot to tell you: Although I’m on a much weaker computer than my beloved laptop (mayherestinpeace), I’m still able to read your lovely comic, even if I can’t do my own…
Astrigali,
Thank-you. Sorry to hear about your laptop(R.I.P.).
Brig,
I visited the Daily Cartoonist and left them something to think about.
When I was working in retail there was a lady who would let her child walk through our craft store with a shopping cart, and fill it with whatever caught her daughters eye, and then left it in the back of the store for the employees to put back. She did this at least once a month as well Oo
I haven’t worked in retail but I’ve gone grocery shopping enough times to know what you mean! Don’t have kids if you don’t wanna take the time to teach them how to behave! Sheesh!
My sister has an interesting way of dealing with things, whenever an out of control munchkin keeps getting in her way she tells the parent “You know, it’s legal to put a leash on those things!”
And the sad part of all this is that the child is not at fault in all probability. In fact, many kids are simply curious and stimulated about the many creative things in store like this. The perfect opportunity to teach kids respect for property, appreciation of order, and the joy of constructive creativity.
Sounds too high brow, boring, and grown-upy? It’s not. You children at that age trust their parents completely. Telling – and showing! – your child proper behavior from the beginning is the easiest and most rewarding way to raise a kid. They get to have fun without being (too) destructive. It IS possible to let kids be kids while also making sure they enjoy and respect their surroundings.
I agree that it is the parents who deserve the waggin’ finger. It’s their responsibility to make sure their children don’t slobber, destroy, or maim property that isn’t theirs to slobber on, destroy or maim. And “he/she isn’t hurting anything” is a cop out! (I like the leash option there Meggie). Virtual leashes work, too, but require more parent interaction and supervision.
Juxt… I wonder if you and I worked in the same place!
Joe… bionics is a good place to start!