EATING THE BARCODE

working retail isn't my cup of tea.  i like working in an office, typing away all day.  but since my fate for now is to suck it up and work retail, i try to deal.  but when you have "those customers", you wish to scream and run out the door.  if you work retail, you understand..........

one day earlier in the week i was working the cash register at work.  my general manager was there, but wasn't there...........meaning, he was on vacation, but was physically in the store, working...........

i had two customers approach my counter, both had at least one child, but i didn't know which child belonged to whom.  i didn't even know if they were together or not.

a little girl about 4 reached up and started pulling on something on the work counter next to my register.  since i had not started ringing anyone up yet, i leaned over and nicely said to her to please don't pull on that, it might slide off and hurt you.  i then turned to my current customer, who had a little girl about 2.5 years old and i think a couple of other children........older, but not by much.  the woman purchased several foam mats that are in shapes of things...........trucks, monkeys, crowns, etc.  two of the mats had bar codes, so there was no problem.  i rang up her other items, and noticed the littlest one pulling something off a purple mat she had in her hand and put that item into her mouth.  i remember thinking "ewwww, gum or candy".  she went on to chew up whatever she had in her mouth and then the mother asked her to hand her the "crown" she had in her hand so she could pay for it. 

when she handed it to me to ring up, there was no bar code, and then i knew what the little one had pulled off and put into her mouth.  well, each different style of mat has a different bar code, so i needed to have that to ring up the item.  where i made my mistake was, i said to the mother "oh, this doesn't have a bar code, she pulled it off."  the mother said, "oh, ok, well i will go and get another one."  and she did.  we usually call an associate to come get the bar code, but since she volunteered, i agreed to let her.  it is usually faster, lol.

as she approached the counter, she threw the crown down and said "don't ever accuse my daughter of something she didn't do.........none of them have bar codes!"  i noticed that it didn't have one, but was still in the same pickle........i needed a barcode.  i didn't respond to the woman's outburst, i just paged an associate, and when one arrived, i asked her to get a barcode for it. 

while waiting on the associate, the two women in line, who WERE NOT together, were griping about service and everything else.  the mother of the tot who ate the bar code was really raising sand.  she was saying that her daughter did nothing wrong, and i falsely accused her and she would never shop there again.........that at least she didn't do like a lot of mothers do and let their kids run the store and tear up everything.  the other mother was agreeing with her.  my fes (supervisor) walked up to tell me some customer was getting fresh with her, touching her, and being a bit too personal, and i was talking to her and trying not to say anything to the beast at my counter. 

meanwhile, the gm opened up a register, and the other woman went to him to check out.  SHE reported me for being rude to the other lady.............now how was i rude??  i could have told her that her daughter was going to be pooping paper mache, but i didn't.  she wouldn't have believed me anyway.  i am a mother of a 20 year old.  i do understand that the rule of thumb is "I CAN TALK ABOUT MY CHILD ALL DAY, BUT YOU CAN'T".  but that is a rule made to be broken from time to time.  actually, i DIDN'T falsely accuse the child of anything.  but as my gm said, just keep the kids out of it. 

so, to mother's (and father's) out there...........when you go into a store of any kind with your children, no matter what their ages, always keep them close at hand..........and make sure you know what they are doing.  retail stores are not free babysitters.  we are people trying to make a meager living at usually minimum wage.....just trying to feed and clothe and shelter our own munchkins..............

the day before the above incident, we had a group or family come in to shop.  while the adults (i use the term loosely) were shopping, the children, all possibly under the age of 10, managed to open close to $100 worth of candy, consuming quite a bit of it there in the store.  they also opened numerous packages of craft supplies, some of which we were able to save and put back out. 

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS???????  why don't parents parent anymore????  most are afraid of "damaging" their child (psycho babble) or afraid of the dept of family and children services coming down on them for child abuse just for disciplining their child in public.............i say hey, you don't want me to teach my kid right from wrong?  then take my kid, raise them yourself...........and don't ask me for any advice.......once you take 'em, they are yours.........

and yes, i loved and still love my daughter...........may not agree with her on most everything, but i will never stop loving her.....................