A-Parent Lack Of A Parent

(I work the gate at an indoor play-gym. While I do keep an eye on everyone, I am not there to watch people’s kids for them. A couple with two young kids come in, and they force the gate open.)

Customer #1: “Make sure my son doesn’t leave.”

(As I can’t leave the gate, I figure they’ll be back in a minute. Thirty seconds later, a small boy about four years old run over to the gate and tries getting through.)

Me: “Hey, why don’t you stay in here?”

Boy: “I want my mommy!”

Me: “You can’t be out there by yourself, okay?”

(The boy starts screaming and trying to hit me now. An older woman comes over to try and help.)

Customer #2: “Here, sweetie, why don’t you sit here and wait for your parents!”

Boy: “NO! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I don’t wanna wait!”

Customer #2: “What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

Boy: “I WANT MY MOMMY! I’LL KILL YOU!”

(At this point I’m scared he’ll hurt the woman, as he’s kicking madly at her. I call down a police officer to help.)

Boy: “I WANT OUT! I DON’T WANNA WAIT!”

Me: “You need to stay here for now, okay?”

(The boy gets up and tries pulling the gate open. I stop him, as I don’t want the gate to break or for him to get hurt. He turns at me and hits me. It wasn’t hard, but it did stun me.)

Boy: “LEAVE ME ALONE! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Customer #2: “Sweetie, just stay here for a minute! Just calm down!”

Boy: “NO! I DON’T WANNA WAIT! LET ME OUT!”

(The police officer comes over to the gate and looks down at the boy.)

Officer: “Here, I’ll help you find your parents.”

(I open the gate, and the boy takes off running. The officer goes after him. The play-gym was calmer after that. Later in the day, the officer comes down to check on me.)

Officer: “Everything okay down here?”

Me: “Yeah. Did you find that one kid’s parents?”

Officer: “Yeah. They were out on the go-karts; I had to yell at them to get them off. They didn’t understand why they were in trouble, or why their kid was crying.”