"Don't you care about my child?" (long, nasty language)

[Mytical]

Well, personally I would have been fired. Cause my reply would be. "Actually mam, I am not a babysitter. You failure as a parent has no bearing on my job whatsoever. Good day."

[Becks]

... and now I have Metallica running through my head...

Only now? I always have Metallica songs going through my head.

It's like a concert every day!

[Kereminde]

I'm sorry, right up until she pushed me I would have behaved the same way. Maybe even gone "Sorry, what is your daughter's name? We'll page her on the intercom."

After the push?

"No, boss, don't evict her from the store yet. I want to press charges."

[Kristev]

Sue her. And don't forget to ring up the police. Perhaps even CPS? After all, what moron these days leaves a twelve-year old child on their own in a large store? Sixteen, no problem. Twelve, this isn't the 80's anymore, this is 2010.

[Jester]

Wow, one of the few times I actually wished I worked retail....

"don't you care about my child?"

"Honestly? No."

M: WHERE IS MY KID????? SHE AIN"T HERE!!
JESTER: I don't know.
M: TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!!!
JESTER: I. Don't. Know.
M: IT'S YOUR JOB TO WATCH MY KID OR ARE YOU SO F_CKING INCOMPETENT THAT YOU CAN"T MANAGE THAT?
JESTER: No, it is my job to sell electronics, and I am very competent in that job. It is YOUR job to watch your kid!
M: F-CK YOU. YOU CHILD MOLESTING FREAK
JESTER: Do NOT speak to me like that! (something I've had the great pleasure of actually telling a customer)
M: F-CK YOU<pushes me>
JESTER: Do. Not. TOUCH me.
J TO M) Did you just shove my employee?
M: Yeah, so what?
J: Get out of my store , now.
M: I ain't leavin' without my daughter!
J: We'll find your daughter ma'am then you will leave this store and not return.
M: F-CK You, B-TCH . I am the customer. I can do whatever I want. I ain't leaving.
(just then D walks up)
D: HI MOM!
M: Where were you?
D: At the Harry Potter books.
M: (to me) Why didn't you tell me?
JESTER: As I SAID, it is not MY job to watch your child or know her whereabouts, it's YOURS. *I* was busy DOING my job. Where were YOU, and what exactly WERE you doing? Clearly not parenting!

Not criticizing the OP's way of handling this....I just would have handled it differently. Might have gotten fired, too, but hey, those are the breaks.

Remember, I don't work retail....and I think we can all agree that that's a good thing all the way around.

Side note: The general philosophy of some people that it's everybody's job to watch their child is, of course, malarkey. The somewhat more prevalent view of many people that we should all care about all children is a load of hooey. Do I really care about that annoying shrieking snot-blower in aisle 3? Not even slightly. Do I care about that spoiled little shit throwing food in the other booth? Not a whit. Hell, I'll admit that there have been many times, and there will be many more, when someone else's child is being annoying or destructive and they slip and fall, or hurt themselves, or otherwise come to some unpleasantness that causes them pain or discomfort, that I stand there and giggle. Laugh. Smile. And enjoy it.

I care about the children important to me, such as my nieces and my friend's children. And to a lesser degree those children that are not rampaging lunatics cranked up on too much sugar and caffeine provided by their negligent parents.

Do I care about your child? About as much as I care about you. And if you're an asshole twatpocket spoiled brat entitlement whore, that amount is Not One Bit.

To put it more brilliantly than I ever could, I present the wise words of George Carlin. A great read, but if you can listen to it, far, far better!

(Warning: This is some of Carlin's harshest material, and some people may not find it funny, and may even find it downright offensive. I find it hilarious, but I'm a cold-hearted evil bastard with no children of his own. In other words, I'm happy. In any case, individual results may vary. If you're easily offended, don't click the links. If you do, don't send me the hate mail. You've been warned.)

*giggles madly* is that like a hotpocket stuffed with sc?

Do you REALLY want to know what a twatpocket is stuffed with?

[Trishlovesdolphins]

Too bad your CC wasn't a cop.

[Andara Bledin]

Only now? I always have Metallica songs going through my head.

Oh, I always have music, but lately it's been mostly Elfman.

Do you REALLY want to know what a twatpocket is stuffed with?

Bwahahahaha!

^-.-^

[Seshat]

Side note: The general philosophy of some people that it's everybody's job to watch their child is, of course, malarkey. The somewhat more prevalent view of many people that we should all care about all children is a load of hooey.

I really, really want to respond to this. I think I'd better take it to Fratching.

[Jester]

I really did try to keep it out of fratching territory. Tried to only comment on the sucky customer aspect of it. Hope that came through.

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

*giggles madly* is that like a hotpocket stuffed with sc?

Precisely!

Sue her. And don't forget to ring up the police. Perhaps even CPS? After all, what moron these days leaves a twelve-year old child on their own in a large store? Sixteen, no problem. Twelve, this isn't the 80's anymore, this is 2010.

Don't forget slander. She did call you a child molester, after all.

I like Jester's suggested responses!

Grape, where are you? We're dying to know what happened!

[Daemonmonkey]

This is to blame the stupid manager(s) who came up with the devise that the customer is always right.

That somehow makes the stupid ones believ that they can act as they will, because,you know, the customer is always right.

(found this site a couple of days ago, enjoyed the reading...)

[Victoria J]

Wow - that is a seriously sucky customer.

I think you handled it about right too. The priority had to be to find the child even though it was the mother's fault, the mother might be stupid enough to want to stand there arguing with you instead but the right thing to do was to (try to) start the store procedure for a missing child.

Between then and the moment she turned to actual assault you could only point out she was wrong. Personally my response when she suggested you were too incompetent to look after the child would have been "One of us here couldn't manage to look after the child. It wasn't me because that wasn't my job".

After she shoved you it was right that she was told she had to leave, and again (unfortunately) right that this really had to wait until the child was found. I really really hope that she is banned permanently, she certainly should be.

A criminal charge would be nice, but it's a lot of time and hassle for all concerned. As long as your store didn't tell you it wasn't allowed I can see why you and they might choose not to go down that route.

Glad your manager at least stood up for you. And that the store remembered the most important thing was finding the girl even if the mother didn't.

Victoria J

[PepperElf]

well if CC is really a lawyer that could get interesting.
but yeah, it would have been funnier if CC was a cop instead.

cos we know how that one would turn out.
SC: <shove>
CC: <o look i have shiny bracelets for you>
SC: But my child!
CC: <phones station to send a social worker>


but seriously... she leaves her daughter alone in a store, alone with strangers
and then tries to play the "my child's safety" card?

[chainedbarista]

pepper, hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does. (thank you, forrest gump!)

shiny bracelets, a few nights in lockup, a court date and cps monitoring might (re: just) might get through that thick skull of hers.

somehow, that seems too optimistic.

good manager, backing your employee; that's a cookie for you! *pats his head*

Do you REALLY want to know what a twatpocket is stuffed with?

with my twisted curiosity, of course i do!

[Grape The Cat]

The ahem, "lady" was banned from the store, she tried to return several times, but management kept kicking her out. They finally arrested her for trespassing, after she refused to leave the store.