Archived Demon Spawn

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What's that sound? Is it somebody pushing around a cart with a rusted-up broken wheel? Nope, just some kid screaming (is that even the right word?) through the whole store. And I mean it; pretty sure they did a circuit of the store before finally leaving.
 
ZombiePanties31 said:
I hate kids.
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I don't really *hate* kids. I just have zero patience with them and have even less desire to have any of my own. I'll be out in public with my mom, and she'll say something like "Oh, someone's tired!" when there's this absolute brat screaming his head off. It's almost like she enjoys listening to the kid scream; meanwhile, I want to claw my eyeballs out.

I love the innocence and spontaneity of children, but I think I personally would be very unhappy as a mom.
 
My oldest (the one who yelled 911) has decided never to have kids even to the point of not dating men with kids.
When I asked why she said "they are unpredictable little animals."

I pointed out she had chased her roommate down the road when he got drunk and was screaming he hated her.
How was that different than having a teenage daughter?
"Shut up." she said.
 
Retail Girl said:
This past spring a mom was doing a return up at guest services, with her two kiddos, who were probably about 3. I was GSA that night and happened to be walking by. One of the kiddos decided he was going to hit his sister. So he did. She started crying, and hit him back. So he started crying, and...yeah, vicious cycle. Poor Mom just wanted to do her return. So I walked up to them, knelt down at their level (they were strapped in the kid cart seats) and asked them if they had seen the movie Frozen. The girl, of course, answered she had, while the boy just sat there and stared at me trying to figure out why I was talking to them so calmly. So the girl and I talked about Frozen, and I had her tell me all about it. Mom was able to finish her return, and get back to refereeing the kids and the entire front end had peace and quiet.

I know how easy it is to want to grumble at kids when they are being obnoxious. And at a certain age, I'm likely to lose patience with their tantrums. But when they're little, sometimes a distraction of a calm voice is enough to quiet them down to either talk to you or at least stare at you in confusion. It will give the parent enough time to get done what they are trying to get done and get them out of there and everyone back to some semblance of quiet again. It doesn't always work, but when it does, you will be considered a miracle worker for the rest of the day.
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MOST of the time, all the kids want is a little attention. You taking the time to talk to them, on their level, is what 99% of situations like this need to be stopped. I'd have to say a majority of the kids I see throwing tantrums have parents who are oblivious, yakking away on a cell phone, just ignoring them! I always tried to involve my kids whenever we went shopping & they rarely threw tantrums.
 
With smaller children (and sometimes even medium to older children) a sticker can be your best weapon. Smaller children will suddenly become super shy if you talk to them (and a sticker is a good reason to) and older children... well, it's an inoffensive way to suggest that they're acting like a small child. Sometimes they smirk and take the sticker, too.
My favorite questions right now are "are you ready for the start of school?" and "did you have a good summer?" Later it'll be holiday related...
 
as a kid I was taught that you don't talk to strangers, so when a kid comes to my lane and immediately starts talking to me, I get the creeps. when kids talk to me and I cant understand them, I dont talk to them. is that mean? ha i know it is...

I once had a guest who was too busy sorting through her mobile coups and paper ones to watch her obnoxious brat. he was climbing, jumping and running on the bench where we place bags. I was terrified this kid was going to fall, so I my fakest sweet voice asked the kid to get down so he doesnt hurt himself. the mother jumped down my throat like a mother bear and said "dont parent my child, i know when he is in danger. he is not going to fall down and hurt himself" I said "i'm sorry you feel that way, I just dont want him to get hurt" she turned to the kid and said "get down" kid was perfect and said "i dont have to" and kept jumping around. great parenting.

after they left I asked my gsa how she would have handled it and she agreed I was correct but referred me to the lod. She also told me I was correct and handled the kid perfectly.

now that I'm at guest service, I get to yell at the kids playing at the registry comps. its great.
 
When I worked for another big box store long ago, a lady came in with her 4 kids & told them to 'play in the toy dept' while she shopped for linens. The guy in toys overheard & met them in the aisle. He told them that there was a child-snatcher loose in the area & 3 kids had already disappeared. They ran back to mom & practically plastered themselves to her side. Several times I heard her tell them to "Stop standing so CLOSE!"
 
redeye58 said:
When I worked for another big box store long ago, a lady came in with her 4 kids & told them to 'play in the toy dept' while she shopped for linens. The guy in toys overheard & met them in the aisle. He told them that there was a child-snatcher loose in the area & 3 kids had already disappeared. They ran back to mom & practically plastered themselves to her side. Several times I heard her tell them to "Stop standing so CLOSE!"
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I SWEAR TO GOD THAT THIS WASN'T ME.
 
bigtex said:
as a kid I was taught that you don't talk to strangers, so when a kid comes to my lane and immediately starts talking to me, I get the creeps. when kids talk to me and I cant understand them, I dont talk to them. is that mean? ha i know it is...

I once had a guest who was too busy sorting through her mobile coups and paper ones to watch her obnoxious brat. he was climbing, jumping and running on the bench where we place bags. I was terrified this kid was going to fall, so I my fakest sweet voice asked the kid to get down so he doesnt hurt himself. the mother jumped down my throat like a mother bear and said "dont parent my child, i know when he is in danger. he is not going to fall down and hurt himself" I said "i'm sorry you feel that way, I just dont want him to get hurt" she turned to the kid and said "get down" kid was perfect and said "i dont have to" and kept jumping around. great parenting.

after they left I asked my gsa how she would have handled it and she agreed I was correct but referred me to the lod. She also told me I was correct and handled the kid perfectly.

now that I'm at guest service, I get to yell at the kids playing at the registry comps. its great.
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I let them play on the registry and job kiosk computers to their hearts content (or until their parent yells). Anyway, it's those damn job kiosk phones that kill us. The kids pick them up, and of course they call us, so we have the stupid phone ringing at us (so real calls can't get through) and it's just stressful...so we ask the kids to hang them up, and they won't, and the parents start yelling...I hate it.

So today, I said "screw it" and unplugged them both so they will no longer call anywhere when the kids pick them up. There is no point to the phones when they call us at guest services not even four feet away...so no one uses them. And I've bought us all some peace and quiet until an LOD figures out they don't work (how they would, I don't know) and puts in a work order for the SFT to fix them.
 
It doesn't even have to be small children. The other day at work I had two college-aged brothers come through my line with their mom. Both were acting like they were 2 and the mom just kept shaking her head and asked if I felt sorry for her. I said yes but in my mind I wanted to say "yes because these two are in college and acting like this. You clearly did not discipline them at all while they were growing up."

The next day I had two little girls come through my line (separate transactions) both under the age of 7ish who were both amazing angels. One I talked super heroes with. The other we talked about ice cream and she sat there singing jingle bells quietly to herself.
We also have a family who is a regular to our store. Their son is maybe 3 and always says he wants a lollipop and stickers. But before he gets either, he has to say please and thank you. These are the people who restore my faith in humanity.
 
One time I had a kid start to hit his mother in my lane, then attempted to runaway from his mother but tripped and fell on his buttocks. Hilarious.
 
Retail Girl said:
Our job app kiosks are near guest services, so the kids always go running to them, and invariably they pick up the phone. Why the hell do we have phones at those stations that ring to the service desk not five feet away??? So then I am trying to help the guest, as well as calling over to little Johnnie to ask him to hang up the phone. Not everything is a toy, people!
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Mine is laid out the same way, and only our photo line and ONE red guest service line works, thank goodness.
 
<.< Kids who demand stickers from me...nope...parents who also demand...not ask nicely...nope im out of them. I wonder why they think they can get away with demanding stuff, its rude and surely doesnt work every where, stickers are a privaledge not a right lol.
 
The little heathens run over to my condiment bar, grab stir sticks or stoppers to have mini sword fights leaving me to sweep up the mess & replenish afterwards.
 
Thank God one of my first jobs was at Gamestop inside a mall 20 feet away from a kid zone. Otherwise, I couldn't have been prepared for the screaming that goes on inside my store! :eek:

Its a normal day at Starbucks inside Target, I'm running like a chicken with my head cut off, helping guests, making new pots of coffee, covering frappucinos AND Bar when this ungodly sounds erupts from the left. A child screaming/wailing/OBVIOUSLY BEING MURDERED PAINFULLY! I give my customary silent prayers to the cashiers and their seemingly endless well of patience and continue on my day, knowing that the horrible screeching will be gone in, AT MOST, 10 minutes.

20 minutes later and I'm concerned....40 minutes later and I'm just wondering what the hells the hold up and a full hour later I'm marveling that this kid's vocal cords aren't shredded into dust! I go back to take care of some dishes and see if my Food Ave counterparts know what the hell is going on out there. Because that screaming is STILL going strong, if not STRONGER (and my fellow Starbucks baristas on here should more than likely know, once you enter that back kitchen with the dishwasher and everything running, its like noise canceling headphones; impervious to all, except this extremely irate child apparently.)

I learn that that horrible ungodly screeching that started where I THOUGHT was the registers, was actually back in seasonal. SEASONAL. CLEAR ACROSS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORE. I couldn't have been FURTHER away unless I had barricaded myself in the women's restroom next to guest services and even then its only 100 or so feet away from me in Starbucks! Apparently the reason its LOUDER now is after the Mother has finished her shopping she decided it was NOW time to leave and was waiting with her screaming heathen at the registers, calm as you please.

A full hour and 20 minutes after the screaming started I watch as this small blonde boy who couldn't have been more than 6 is DRAGGED out of our doors, STILL going strong. I do believe that was the strongest urge I've ever had to apologize to my Mother for everything I'd ever done, knowingly or not.
 
Sounds like lousy parenting, not lousy behaving child. It'd make me want to call my children (if I had any) and apologize to them moreso than to call my mother and apologize to her.
 
This is why if some kid is getting kidnapped I won't know what to do because they all scream their heads off
 
Nauzhror said:
Sounds like lousy parenting, not lousy behaving child. It'd make me want to call my children (if I had any) and apologize to them moreso than to call my mother and apologize to her.
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I'd love to smack parents like this....had one in my store today too. The daughter is screaming bloody murder and the mom is just oblivious, chatting away on her phone, while I'm standing there thinking "how can you even HEAR the person you're speaking to and how can they hear you?" GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE AND PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CHILD FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!!!!!!
 
Since we're talking about spoiled brats...
Once, I overhead a woman in the toy aisle say to her kid, who looked like he was about 7 or 8, "Now this is about $200 worth of toys. Do you promise me you'll use all of them?" When I turn to look, I have to stop my jaw from falling to the floor. She has a cart filled to the absolute brim with ninja turtles toys. The kid doesn't even look impressed, so I'm guessing this is not the first time.
I just want to scream "NO! I can promise you that boy is going to open everything when he gets home, half of it is going to break and end up in the trash, and the other half is going to be what you'll step on in the hallway for the next three weeks!"
Next thing I see, the kid takes off running towards the check lanes and his mom says in a tiny little mouse voice : "Hey, hold on please." He keeps running, of course.

I'm all for being nice to kids, but holy shit. Limits.
 
oath2order said:
This is why if some kid is getting kidnapped I won't know what to do because they all scream their heads off
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I don't care, screaming like that instantly turns off all of my caring and attention. Temper tantrums being allowed to just go on for hours like the story posted above, have me doing whatever I can to get away from it.

Cause honestly I would backhand that brat across the store for pulling a stunt like that. But then I am not a helicopter parent, I was raised in a time where kids were not in charge and you behaved or got punished for it. I was never allowed to behave like that.

If your child can't behave you need to take them home until they can.
 
You can easily teach kids to behave without beating them.

I learned at a very, very young age, that throwing a fit was never ever going to get me what I wanted, and that while it was fine to ask for anything, it was not fine to ask after being told no.
 
When I was a kid, my mom could deal a swat to the butt of a running child without breaking stride.
When my boys were younger, I told them that misbehaving meant we were done & leaving.
I had to leave a cart or 2 before they knew I meant it but they got the message.

@commie - I remember that story about your girls using the "Call 911" yell on YOU.
 
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