Are we employees or babysitters?!

[BowserKoopa1]

Yesterday my best friend was working at his register. A lady came up with her little boy, about 4 or 5. The little boy rushed into the men's restroom, and she asked my best friend if he could go in there and get him.
He told her he could call for the little boy, but that they were not allowed to touch other people's children for certain obvious reasons. She got all huffy puffy and had to wait for her child to come out. When he finally did, she told my best friend, "I am complaining to your manager!", which of course the bitch did. But thankfully he didn't get into any trouble after explaining his side of the story to the manager.
Maybe I'm wrong about this, but under the circumstances can't she just quickly go into the men's restroom to grab her son? What does she think is going to happen the 10 seconds or so she's in there? If any men did see her coming in to get her child, I doubt very seriously they'd give it a second thought.
Now to the main complaint.... Why oh why do customers expect us to babysit their kids? I am not getting paid to do that, and I will absolutely not be held responsible for anything that happens to anyone's kids. My advice is either watch your dam kids, or leave them at home!
Almost makes you wonder what these customers are thinking, but then again, they're customers, and when they go shopping, their brains seem to be operating at a minimum level.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Didn't you get the memo? You're a babysitter. And you're working pro bono.

[ShootMePlease]

No way do I waste one minute looking after someone else's kid. Not my problem. If I wanted the responsibility, I would have kids.

[bainsidhe]

I had a guy upset because a woman took her 4-5 year old son into the ladies room and another little girl was already in there. ~shrugs~

[JustaCashier]

Depending on the size and layout of the restroom, I don't think it would have been too unreasonable for the customer to kindly inquire if the male employee could open the restroom door, step in just far enough to do a visual check and/or call out to check if there is anyone but the child in there. The mother would be standing where she would be able to see the employee, but not into the restroom where male customer(s) might feel their privacy has been compromised.

If all this fell into place, and the restroom was clear, the woman could go in and get her kid after he finished, while the employee, if he had time, stood at the door to make sure no men came in.

Of course, if any do walk up to use the restroom, they would probably turn sucky at being "inconvenienced".

Mike

[LillFilly]

Yeah, it is kind of a darned if you do, darned if you don't. But I think the employee was good to be cautious, because the woman could have said ANYTHING about him if he was in there alone with her son! In that case (were I male) I would have looked in to make sure the restroom was empty, and then allowed the woman to go in and get her son while watching the door to make sure no other men popped-in.

At my mall, mothers bring male children that age into the lady's room all the time and use the handicap stall. No big deal, it's not like a locker room or something!

[BowserKoopa1]

The thing I can't understand is why she would complain? My best friend told me that employees were not allowed to touch children at all, because the stupid parent (mother or father) would start getting paranoid dilusional thoughts about what the employee is doing to their child. He explained this to her, but as is the case with some customers, they just don't seem to be able to comprehend something simple like this.
And while we're on that subject, I don't think any employee would try anything with a parent being right outside the restroom door. No employee is that stupid to take that kind of a risk.

[draco664]

No employee is that stupid to take that kind of a risk.

Have you browsed the forum on idiot coworkers? You might be surprised. Stupidity of that magnitude is not limited to customers.