Call… The… Police!, Part 4

Bad Behavior, Children, Department Store, Ignoring & Inattentive, Lazy/Unhelpful, Parents/Guardians, USA | Right | August 31, 2023

I am walking between departments as part of my job, and I see a little boy, maybe five or six, looking around aimlessly. He sees me and darts over.

Child: “Do you know where my mommy is?”

Me: “I’m sorry, kiddo, I don’t. It’s a good thing you came to an employee, though! Shall we go over to the help desk, and we can call for your mommy?”

We do so, and my manager settles him down and gets him a cup of water, asking him his name and what his mommy’s name is. I make an announcement with the little information we’re allowed to give out; we can’t give out too much identifying information over a public speaker. And we wait.

My manager picks up the help desk phone when it rings a minute or so later, listens with widening eyes, and then relays the call to me.

Manager: “I have a call from the salon. The manager over there said that her client is likely the mother and to just look after the kid for a little longer as she doesn’t want to interrupt her perm.”

I mouth, “Wow,” while the manager listens to something else on the phone.

Manager: “She said what? Wow. Tell her to be here right now or we’re calling the police to report child abandonment.”

The manager hangs up, shaking his head.

Me: “What did they say?”

Manager: “The salon manager said the mother wanted to confirm if it was just the one child we’d found because she came in with two…”