Shopping Etiquette: You Don’t Say Anything to Anyone about Their Children
When it comes to people and their children, I have learned that you keep your mouth shut. This is especially true when shopping. Shopping etiquette is unspoken rules that savvy shoppers like myself follow. I’ve walked around many malls in my lifetime. I’ve seen just about every tantrum a child can have. I’ve seen everything from minor whimpering to a full blown devil possession. One thing I have learned, is by no means necessary do you say anything to anyone with bad children. Mother’s get offended when you say something about their children.
I will never forget the airplane ride I took on my way to Orlando. I witnessed the worst temper tantrum I have ever seen any child have. The devil possessed this little girl for a good fifteen minutes. And because I was cursed with the dreaded aisle seat, I got a good look at what was going on across from me. Out of the blue, a little girl, which I would guess was about 4 years of age, kicked off a screaming fest scaring the crap out of most of the passengers. As the mother tried to calm her down, she slapped her mother in the face several times and started biting her hand. I was shocked, awed, speechless, and mad because it was a 6am flight. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Although the passengers were annoyed as all hell, no one said anything.
This morning a story crossed my path that brought back the memories of that airplane ride I took a few years ago. A shopper in Nordstrom’s Rack in Colma, CA claims that she was struck in the face after she asked the mother to calm her child down. The two women had a heated exchange, which led the shopper to tell the mother to “go to hell” in which she responded “I’ll see you there”. The arguing continues outside and in the video; you can see the mother comes behind her and decks her. The shopper claims she may lose three teeth. Don’t you just love Nordstrom’s Rack?
Photo Credit: WTVR.com
In all honesty, I get it! The child was screaming, and it was loud, I’ve been there. Some people cannot control their children! However at this point you do one or two things, you wait it out, or you step out of line. Yes, we frown, we roll our eyes, and we talk about the mother & child to our shopping companion; that’s allowed! Never do we ever say anything unless the child touches us physically! The unspoken rule of shopping etiquette allows us to keep our teeth intact and our asses out of jail!
Would you tell a stranger to calm their child down?