That Special “Last-Day-In-Retail” Courage

I work at a local grocery store. After graduating from college, I accepted a job and am going to be moving out of state in a week. I am not working this day, but my mother needs some groceries picked up and I decide to go get them for her. The parking lot of our store is on a slope and we often have issues with runaway carts hitting cars. It usually isn’t a big deal and people will leave a note indicating what happened, with their contact number.

As I’m packing up the car with my bags I look over and see a kid riding the cart down the parking lot. I noticed he was going full speed towards a pretty beaten down car that happens to belong to one of my coworkers. He hits it full force and leaves a sizable dent in the driver’s side door. His mother appears out of nowhere, looks around, and quickly takes the cart to the area where we store them.

I’m sitting in my car watching this happen thinking: “Please leave a note. Please don’t make me say something.”

Sure enough she gets back to her car and opens the driver’s side door.

Me: “You are going to leave a note, aren’t you?!”

Lady: “What?”

Me: “Your kid hit that car and left a mark. You need to do something about it.”

Lady: “Mind your own business! It’s not even noticeable and I don’t have paper or a pen to write my information down on!”

Me: “If you’re not going to say something then I am.”

At this point I lost it. Mainly because I only had a week left working there and because I realized I was at the store, but not wearing my work attire and had dreamed of a moment like this for years.

Me: “You’re good with teaching your kid it’s okay to damage someone’s property and not take responsibility for it?! What kind of person does that?! What kind of role model are you being? You need to go in the store and tell someone!”

Lady: “Leave me alone! I’m leaving!”

At this point I get out of my car and start walking towards hers.

She gets in, rolls the window down, flips me the bird, yells “F*** you!” and speeds off.

I got a picture of her license plate and told our store manager and the employee what had happened. His insurance took care of it, likely at the cost of hers!