I was a Publix on a Sunday afternoon, going about my little work, tending to the floral shoppe. I saw a little girl, probably about six or seven years old, who had one of the $1.29 latex balloons in her mouth. I said: 'you know your mom will have to pay for that now that you have put it in your mouth'. She just looked at me, said nothing, and casually wandered over toward a woman in the produce department, who was likely her mother. And mentioned to her that she would like to have a balloon. I didn't hear the mom's response. The little girl looked at me, and followed her mom away from my area.
I watched her until I could not see them anymore, so don't know what she did with the balloon: but suspect it got stuffed in her pocket, to turn up in the wash several days hence, or tucked away in a display before they left the store.
I wondered about this incident. And decided that although the balloon had almost No Value, I had a problem with the little girl taking it. If you shop at Publix, you know we give away balloons all the time to kids who ask: but the'free'/give-aways are printed with the Publix logo. The balloon the little girl had in her mouth was not one she had asked for, or was given, but one she took out of the jar we have for customers to choose colors and have inflated to purchase. So essentially she was stealing. But it was something of almost No Value. Like a one cent piece of bubble gum would have been, had I been sticky-fingered as a kid.
So: what would you have done? If I had said something to the mom, she would have either gotten really defensive, or skinned the kid alive when they got home. Or offered to sue Publix for slandering her child.
I later asked several people in management what they would have done if I had told them about the scenario before the customers left the store. I'm thinking it's just as much a 'loss' as someone going through the produce department and taking a bite out of an apple and putting it back in the display. No one wants to buy a bitten apple or a balloon that has been in another's mouth. Though the girl would have been humiliated if the mother had corrected her, I believe were I the mom, I would want to have the situation brought to my attention, to use it as a 'teachable' moment with my child.
I personally would have wanted to be told had it been my child. Stealing no matter how small to me is not a good thing, and like you said I would have loved having a "teaching moment" so that hopefully the scenario was never repeated..but I can so see where it would have been a Mom who might have overeacted to the situation in a negative light towards Publix or you.
ReplyDeletei remember this one time as a kid... i stuck my hand in a candy jar at a local grocery store. first off WHY IN THE WORLD do they have those candy jars to 'fill your own bag' with as much as you want?! they are just asking for sweaty, sticky, gross kid's fingers. anyway. i stuck my hand in. pulled out one piece of candy. and mom saw. i don't really remember much of what happened- EXCEPT that i was stealing. and stealing is wrong. and blah blah blah... now whether or not that one lil gummy bear was paid for- who knows... but boy oh boy. i knew that i was stealing. and i could go to jail. and it was not what Jesus would do.
ReplyDeleteso yeah.... if that were my kid i would have wanted to know! BUTTTTT i would have probably not told the parent. too worried they would yell at me and end up suing whomever. nice little thing to ponder though! :)
........Not to mention that she should not put balloons in her mouth. The latex kind are definitely choking hazards. I don't know if the other kind is also a hazard but my mother would say (after the stealing talk) is "Get that thing out of your mouth; there is no tellin' where it has been or if it has been in someone else's mouth."
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