I don’t know why you looked so stunned when I handed you a broom, dustpan and paper towel and asked you to clean up after your kids. You didn’t bring a personal maid to clean up after them did you? Maybe you expected one of my employees to clean up the cereal, raisins, juice and milk your children spilled throughout the store. We have enough to do without cleaning up messes that unsupervised, unruly toddlers make because the parent is too busy shopping and talking on the phone to actually PARENT. You are welcome to bring your children into the store but you are responsible for them. If I wanted to clean up after children I’d get knocked up. —Shopkeeper not Babysitter
This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2011.
hahahahahahahaa
did they clean it up?
Wowsa, good for you….maybe the parent could ride out on the broom when he/she finished the sweep.
Please quit your job, you obviously are not qualified to work in retail.
Fuckin’ A OP, May you live ’til you die and fill your boots with good German lager in Valhalla. I’ve seen some double-Y chromosome types threaten my boss because he has asked them to control their children and keep them from either destroying his property or injuring themselves. It’s a shame you can’t tell us your establishment because I would go out of my way (even ride the 52) to shop there. And yes, I know how to conduct myself in public. >; ) Rawk!
I think it’s great! Consequences to your actions kiddies (and parents). As long as there was no broken glass involved I don’t see the harm.
Working in retail years ago (and for a time directly for my Dad at his drug store…) I never once had a customer clean up after themselves. Sometimes they’d offer to, or even help, but wherever possible I simply smiled and assured them that I’d take care of it. It is this way when you work in customer service. Even with the worst customer’s you simply put on a smile and do your best to let on that it doesn’t bother you. Sure…. after they leave the store you can bitch all you want to co-workers and if said customer wants to go through life allowing their kids to be destructive and careless- it’s on them. Now, if this is a customer known for continually leaving a path of turmoil, sure, say something to them…. I always followed the outlook of “Mess up my workplace once, shame on me……. mess if up again and repeatedly, shame on you”. Unless you’re in the food service industry… you get paid to clean up messes no matter what there.
Either way, OP….. if I had have been in the store and saw you do that I wouldn’t be too quick to return. I’d actually quite likely write about both you AND the parent/kids in the same bitch. Never forget, as messy as the parent and their kids may be they are contributing to the livelihood of your business. I doubt a couple of extra minutes cleaning up a mess will put that in jeopardy whereas handing the cleaning tools over to the customer will certainly take away business. It’s elementary.
did you hold the baby ransom while they did so?
or did they sweep into a blitz and book it outta the store?
^ its their business they can do what ever they want as demonstrated by the evil c^nt lady at H3nrY H0u53 haha
that was for jonnoman
that lady she be all kinds of crazy
OP, you are a git. How long have you been in retail? Is it your shop? If it is, remind me not to shop there. Do these messy shopper buy something, or just find a clear area, and then shit on the spot? if the buy something, you should fucking celebrate the sale. They can and will go elsewhere. Shut yer trap and smile at the customer, because believe it or not they are money to you. so bend down sweep up the shit and move on. I work in a place the customer messes everything up, I grumble under my breath and clean up. Fucking assholes running shops, that is what is killing retail. get off yer fucking high horse.
I think this is one of those situations where you wish you COULD do this, but only in your head…and OP went and actually did it. There’s a reason why it’s only done in your head: because as much as they deserved it, it IS inappropriate to say/do something like that to your customers.
Trust me, we ALL want to do what you did, OP, but most of us don’t because that’s not how a good business is run.
I know plenty of businesses where if you came in and your bastard shit spawns were running around and wrecking shit you would be lucky to have the opportunity to clean up afforded to you and instead you’d be shown the door.
Oh fuck you OP, you have no fucking idea what it’s like to have kids do you? And you have no fucking idea what your fucking job entails either.
The correct way to handle this is to politely point out to the mother that her children are making a mess in the store and ask her to please try and stop them, then you go get the dustpan, broom, and paper towel and do your job yourself! Or get one of the people you employ to work in the store to do it. It’s your store not fucking Buckingham Palace. YOU are responsible for the cleaning and upkeep in YOUR store.
In customer service you never EVER, assume a customer is being malicious when there is a problem before talking to them and fucking finding out. Always assume ignorance over malevolence. It’s more than likely that this poor woman was fucking stressed out of her mind and honestly didn’t notice the mess her kids were making. Even if that wasn’t the case, the very possibility of it should have been enough to keep you from pulling that gigantic dick of a move. If after talking to them politely they don’t comply or are bitchy with you, THEN you can think about shoving a dustpan in their face. But even then I personally would NEVER do that.
Just walking up to her and shoving cleaning supplies in her face telling her to clean up after her kids right off the bat is beyond rude.
You didn’t seriously think she would clean it up, you’re just one of those bitter, snotty, and confrontational assholes (without kids, might I add) that likes to rudely critique other peoples’ parenting skills in public. Well that’s fine and dandy for you but at the very least can it while you’re at work okay? Sounds like you just enjoy stirring shit up and embarrassing people.
Fucking asshole.
Yeah, but did she clean it up?
that’s the million dollar question oceansis
But but but they’re customers. They can never do any wrong and they are always right. What utter bullshit. They made the fucking mess, let them clean it up or ban them from the store. An accident is one thing, continuous “accidents” are something else. A business doesn’t need a customer that bad. Those shopping with kids, get a grip on them or leave them home. And yes, I’ve made my kids clean up their messes. In fact, I taught them to place their ketchup packets, napkins, etc on their plates after eating in a restaurant. It’s called respecting an establishment.
^^ Exactly
OP, awesome! You should have handed her a box of condoms also. Nominate her for UnMom of the Year.
every parent wears beer-goggles that convince them that their children are as important to everyone else as they are to them. Quite frankly, children in a store tend to piss everyone off, shoppers and staff alike. People like ECHO64 find it shocking that you refuse to be treated as a slave. He’s probably never worked retail a day in his life.
Having said that, i would have handed her a broom AND the damaged merchandise. Which she is now responsible to pay for.
The product and sale is of higher importance than the customer. But the customer is higher than the store selling the product. – This is what I’m gathering from the way the market works.
Since when is it EXPECTED to be treated above and beyond common courtesy by those who are letting YOU into THEIR privately/commercially owned location to give YOU what YOU came there for? As if organizing the movement of materials and labour from around the world to bring you a pair of 20$ sneakers isn’t enough, you want to be able to spill shit everywhere carefree.
Respect should work both ways. Sometimes people have to ask for it. I was not there, but I am sure there are cases where handing a broom to a mother is more than just.
What would the opinions be to; instead of asking the mom to clean up her kids mes, the OB had of just added the cost of the cereal, raisins, juice and milk, to the bill?
In answer to a couple of questions on here:
1. yes she did clean it up with an embarrassed “Sorry”
2. I have worked retail for about 15 years and I own my store (it’s not in metro…Valley based)
3. The customer didn’t buy anything
and, I would do it again. I don’t mind if a kid accidentally spills a bit of food but when two kids are throwing food at each other and it ends with one child dumping an entire bowl of cheerios on his sisters head then his sister trying to dump her juice on his head and it ending up on the floor while the mother interrupts her phone conversation to yell at them to “SHUT UP!!!!” then, she can clean up the mess.
As for the people who wouldn’t shop there if they saw me ask someone to clean up. That is certainly your decision but I would rather not lose customers because of the chaos this family caused either.
Pretty Kitty hit it dead on I think.
fucking good for you o.p., too many people let their spawn get away with too much crap, when they are out to someone else’s place.
bet she wouldn’t put up with that shit at home? and if she did, then she and her brood are nothing but fucking pigs.
and your last sentence o.p., i could help you there, if needed. ah, the sucks is back.
I agree with PK. However, I think cleaning up your mess teaches your children a very valuable lesson. Too many times we do things and think oh it’s someone else’s job, they’ll clean it. While that is true, it’s a terrrible message to send to kids and leads to uncaring inconsiderate behaviour. We are not meant to tear through this world leaving a mess behind for someone else to clean up. The customer is not always right and it’s frankly disrespectful to leave your mess behind, stressed mother or not! Sorry.
there are other customers to consider as well. it’s safety first in our shop but sometimes the dogs get out of hand^^
..I think the OP should be nominated for business of the year ..right on !
Stop fucking saying that a ALL parents think this – and ALL parents do that!!! All parents are not alike!! All children are not alike!!! We are all different…look at this bitch for instance, half of us applaud this OP for doing what she did and the rest of us are disgusted that this person is in retail. The only thing I can say for sure is that MOST people are pretty friggin opinionated!!
OP – I understand your circumstances, and honestly don’t know how I’d feel about it unless I was there as a witness.
sebastian’s mom should have used a condom instead of being named UnMom of the year when he was born.
iso-kay is painting ALL parents with a pretty broad brush on the assumption that there are no parents who can gaze farther than their own navels without acknowledging the ones who ARE conscious of their place in a civilized society, who show others the respect they deserve and instill these values in their children. People tend to speak from personal experience though. (shrug) My children were taught to conduct themselves in a considerate and respectful manner toward others. I was extremely conscious of the fact that not everyone was obligated to find my children as charming as I did. “Quite frankly”, they were never allowed to ‘piss everybody off’ just because they happened to be in a store. Appropriate behaviour was expected of them. I concur with Real chick, NOT all parents are alike. Unfortunately for the OP, bad parenting choices lead to the sort of frustration that prompts one to hand a customer a broom and dustpan in the wake of their spawn’s chaos. Bull’s eye! Great shot! We will just continue to debate whether or not it was appropriate.
Question: were they spilling snacks they already had with them? Or were they pulling all that stuff off the shelves?
why does it matter? Either way, clean up after yourself.
FOOD FIGHT! Sound like some out of control toddlers to me.
So for anyone who thinks the OP did something wrong lets say it was teenagers having a food fight in the store. Would they have to carry any responsibility for their actions at all?
Are parents of toddlers, not then responsible for their childrens actions?
The OP did the right thing. I see people assume that she just “shoved” cleaning supplies at the mother but how do we know that she didn’t go up to her and say, “Excuse me, your children have made a terrible mess in my store and I would appreciate it if you cleaned it up.”
I don’t know why people think that when in a retail store you can act like an obnoxious, lazy, ignorant, moron with no consequences because you “might” spend $5.
If a kid makes an accidental mess, that’s one thing. Staff can clean that up. But if a parent is letting their kid(s) run amock being little shits and destroying things then the parent(s) should be totally liable. Store staff shouldn’t have to put up with kids being little bastards while the bastard parents say/do nothing.
Ditto NGF
I read the bitch as little kids spilling their raisins and juice out of those adorable little raisin boxes and sippy cups. When I was little I always had raisins or Cheerios in a baggie and a sippy cup on me.
How many isles would a kid have to go through to knock all that shit off the shelves? Dairy isle, cereal breakfast isle, drink isle, and… dried up fruit isle? I suck at isle naming. So if they were knocking that shit off the selves they’d pretty much have to cover the whole freaking store before OP got to them, that’s pretty obnoxious and if that’s the case I can understand the OPs frustration. I still wouldn’t have handled it the same way though.
But how much of a mess can a kid make with a baggie of Cheerios or a box of raisins? Not enough of a mess to warrant OPs reaction.
…ugh I’m so bored and I can’t sleeeeep.
op’s reaction was wrong, i give you that but raisins, gold, diamonds, or rubies, you drop it, pick it up!
Good job O.P! I would of done the same!
OP, maybe you should have asked them if you should follow them home and clean up the mess they make there as well? 🙂
I just want to say that I was at a restaurant the other week and there was a couple there with a young child, and the child did make the mess… And the father cleaned it up himself without looking for a waitor or expecting a waitor to clean his child’s mess. It was a night sight.