Out with my nephews today. Oldest is 3, youngest is 8 months.
DN3 fell over on a raised paving stone and skinned his hands and knees. One was quite cut so bleeding a fair bit. I pulled a pack of tissues out of my bag and one blew away, into the main road.
The next thing I know (while I'm dealing with an upset toddler and trying to clean/apply a plaster to his knees, a woman in uniform came over and told me she was issuing me a fine for littering. I tried to explain that I needed to make sure my nephew was okay, stop his knee bleeding, stop the baby crying, and didn't feel comfortable leaving them alone on the side of a busy main road to collect a single tissue. (Not to drip feed but the road is the main route through the town and has pretty non stop traffic)
She refused to listen to me and insisted on the fine. By this point both kids were really upset, the littlest needed his medication and we'd drawn a crowd (and to be honest, I felt like crying too!)
Eventually another warden came over and he managed to persuade her that she didn't need to issue me a fine. I've never felt so powerless and embarrassed. It was absolutely awful and while I understand that people who willfully litter should be punished, common sense needs to be applied?
Should I have abandoned the kids on the side of the road to grab the tissue? WIBU to make a complaint about the way I was treated? She spoke to me like I was a piece of shit.