Wordless Parenting

I’m shopping in a discount store when a little boy about three years old runs past me screaming. He starts circling the racks of clothes shouting nonsense words while his mother, who is about three racks away, lazily calls for him to stop once or twice.

After a while, I am at the cash register, and as I am waiting for my credit card to go through, the cashier starts looking towards the door, which I can’t see because of the other cash register.

The cashier turns to two ladies by the door.

Cashier: “Excuse me, does he belong to you?”

The two ladies look and say no. Suddenly, the cashier takes off from behind the counter and out of the store. She comes back in holding the hand of the little boy who was running around earlier. 

Cashier: “Sweetie, you can’t go outside without your mommy or daddy. You could get hurt! Do you know where your mommy or daddy are?”

The child’s mother then comes walking casually along the aisle towards the door, as if nothing had happened. When the child sees her, he again starts screaming and tries to take off through the door. The mother takes his hand from the cashier and leads him out of the store without a word. The cashier comes back to the register.

Cashier: “I’m so sorry about that. Here’s your receipt.”

Me: “Are you kidding? You shouldn’t be apologizing to me; that mother should have been apologizing to you! Good for you.”