Glass-Roots Parenting

(I work in a store that sells a variety of items, including a lot of glass and ceramic. Stuff gets broken during the course of the day, which is no big deal; we sweep up the majority of it. It’s difficult to catch everything, though, so sometimes a shard or two gets missed. For some reason, parents let their kids run around barefoot in the store, and I do warn them about the glass situation. Most parents will pick their kids up, put their shoes on, etc. And then, there’s this lady.)

Me: *seeing a toddler walking with bare feet* “Oh! Ma’am, just so you know, glass gets broken in here quite often. We try our best to pick it up, but sometimes we miss bits. You might want to pick him up.”

Customer: “Oh! But he’s so wiggly! He needs to burn off energy!”

Me: “I understand, ma’am, but I don’t want him to get hurt if he steps on something.”

Customer: *waving me off* “Oh, I’ll deal with it when it happens. Whatever.”

(I could not control the look on my face at her shitty parenting, and she turned red and marched away. She left soon after that, carrying her kid. I just… how bad of a parent do you have to be if you don’t care that your kid gets glass in his feet?)