kids and shiny things

[Rine]

Today I had a gentleman come up. He had his three adorable children with him, but I don't really know how he is sane. They were triplets. Two year old triplets. Two girls and a boy.

He had the girls in a stroller and I remarked on how the little boy was helping daddy "push" the stroller. The dad told me they haven't been able to get a three child stroller yet. So, he wants to buy a Christmas tree and I take him to the trees. The trees are all decked out in ornaments and trimming. They looked awesome. Well, the first thing I heard was "oooh prettyshine" and then CRASH. One ornament sacrificed. "Jamie, don't do that," the father says and then offers to pay for it. I tell him to not worry. I run to the back really quick and grab a small broom and a dustpan and start sweeping.

We discuss trees and the one that he really wants is out of stock and we can't order it so I offer him a substitute tree and we went over to it. Little boy immediately reaches out to a low hanging ornament and CRASH. Two ornaments sacrificed. "Jamie, bad boy!" the father says. Then he holds his hands. By now I'm thankful I kept the broom and pan out.

I'm trying to get the sale and convince the man that the tree is safe (he was worried about lead) so I call GE, the maker of the tree to verify that it had safe levels of lead in it and whatnot. While I'm on the phone I hear...CRASH CRASH WHOOMP CRASH. "Jamie NO!" Three more ornaments and one little three footer tree sacrificed. (Well, the tree just had to be put back up. THANK GOD it wasn't the 7.5 ft. tree that fell. Somehow the tree did not strike the child and missed all the other trees around it.) I was like..."man, pick up the child and keep him away from my trees!"

All the while the twins in the stroller were happily laughing and giggling at everything their brother did. I thank god that those two were strapped in. No telling what could have happened with all three of them running around.

All in all, five ornaments had to be marked out and one tree put back up. The kid also broke one of those little village figurines when his dad picked him up. I couldn't believe how fast that two year old moved. His little hand just popped out, grabbed the figurine and threw it on the ground and then he started to scream in a really high pitched voice that made my ears hurt and the twins started screaming too. Oi.

Well, the father eventually bought the tree and a power tool set, totalling about 400 dollars so I let all the...um...mishaps slide.

So, anyone else have kids and destruction stories they would like to share?

[pyxee]

Actually I have tons of these, but not from work. My three can get crazy at times around the house, but luckily the most they do in public is a cry every once in a great while, or an investigation of a clothes rack. They don't ( and never have) tried to grab things off of shelves or throw a fit inside the store. There has been only one exception to this when I have taken my kids out, when my oldest daughter was 4 she really wanted her ears pierced, I did not think she was ready but Grandma really wanted to do it for her for her birthday, so I caved and tagged along. Yeah it did not go well, gah I should really stick to my guns sometimes.

[starla671]

I think I would lose my mind if I had to deal with 3 toddlers at once!

If my kids ever did something like that, I'd beat their little a$$e$ right there in front of God and everybody!

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

If my kids ever did something like that, I'd beat their little a$$e$ right there in front of God and everybody!

"And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

[Sliceanddice]

Yeah see i love kids this when i go up to the dad and offer to distract him for 10 minutes cause man, really, he needed some help

[starla671]

"And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

For those who don't know, that meant I would spank them, not literally beat them, mkay? I wouldn't stand by like the dad in the OP and do nothing while my kids destroyed stuff in a store.

[IHateStupidCustomers]

I work at a mall kiosk for the holidays...a kiosk that sells blown glass figurines. You can guess where this is going!

I have a ton of stories of kids breaking stuff...and adults.

Just so you get an idea how the store is laid out, we have four counters, which each have four tiers on them. All of them are full of glass. The last tier is about elbow-height. Now, if people break things, we're not supposed to charge them. Because we can send the broken pieces back to the factory, and they can melt them and make something else. Accidents do happen...but the nerve of some people!

A couple days ago there was this older lady looking at stuff. Typical browser. We were switching shifts, but still watching her to see if she would need anything. My back was turned, but my coworker was looking right at her. Then I hear a CRASH. I turn around in time to see her look at the broken glass on the floor...and then walk away like nothing happened. She was reaching for something on a higher tier and when she pulled her arm back she knocked a glass apple off, which just shattered. She could have said sorry or something.

Yesterday I had a couple (kind of reminded me of Britney and K-Fed for some reason) that were looking at stuff. They circled the store twice, touching stuff, picking stuff up. They decide on something. A glass piece that spells out "Mom" on a big lighted base. The guy picks the whole thing up really fast, just as I was explaining the price of the base, and the "mom" goes flying and breaks. He was at least apologetic. He cries out "OH MY GOD!! I thought it was glued on!!!" Now, nothing else he touched was glued on to their bases, so why he thought that one was, I don't know. He and the girl he was with ended up buying things, so that was good at least.

Then yesterday, I had a lady just walking through the mall, and she walked too close to the counter. Her purse was directly over the shortest tier as she walked past, and when she came across and item that was too tall, SMASH. I hear it, go outside of the store and by the time I get around to her, I see her pick up a few of the broken pieces and put them back on display. She sees me, snaps a quick "sorry" and walks off. WHY don't people pay attention and not try to walk on top of the counter with all the GLASS???

Then, of course, we get the parents that walk off and leave their kids to "look" at the glass. Or the ones that flat out don't watch their kids while they're looking at the glass. One particular kid in a stroller reached out and grabbed a big piece and yanked it on the floor. Apparently, this had happened before, because Mom says "oh, you guys just send the pieces back, right?"

I swear.

[marty]

I was in another one of my stores because I was out of town, browsing, looking to take advantage of that employee discount. It's pretty easy to knock the game cases off the wall--all you have to do is pull up on the metal rack and the metal rack will come off the wall, along with anything on it.

I'm in the back corner. I hear the horrible sound of about twenty cases crashing to the floor. Turned in time to see the ten year old little jackass reaching for another one to repeat the process. One of the poor employees screamed at him to get out and he bolted.

I felt so bad I helped them fix it, because I know if it had happened in my store I'd have lost it.

All I know is if I pulled crap like that when I was little, even as little as two, I would greatly regret it. My mom is scary..

[XCashier]

I'm trying to get the sale and convince the man that the tree is safe (he was worried about lead) so I call GE, the maker of the tree to verify that it had safe levels of lead in it and whatnot.

May I ask, why is there lead in the tree in the first place? We've been looking for a pre-lit tree, but every single one we've seen has the lead warning sticker. The public and government have known about the dangers of lead longer than I've been alive, companies have stopped using it in plumbing and paint and everything else, why the hell are they using it in making artificial Christmas trees?!

[Cyanocobalamin]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/10...f=mpstoryemail

Article says that lead is used in the wire coating to prevent it from drying out.</end off topic>

<back OT>Of course if a child were to break something fragile and cut themselves, you bet Mom/Dad would throw a shitfit and blame you for not watching them or some such baloney.

[XCashier]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/12/10...f=mpstoryemail

Article says that lead is used in the wire coating to prevent it from drying out.

Thank you for the article, that explains a lot.

Underwriters Laboratories, which inspects tree lights for electrical and fire hazards, said there are substitutes for lead in the insulation, such as calcium and zinc, but those options would be more expensive to manufacture.

I'd be willing to pay extra to make sure my decorations are safe.