To think you don’t let your children behave like this in public?

[IfIHadAHeart]

Saturday afternoon, Tesco. It’s a bit manic, lots of last minute Mother’s Day shoppers plus the usual. People dragging kids round who are obviously completely bored, the parents look flustered and have my sympathy. It’s loud. No issues, I just decide to get in and out as quickly as possible.,

I get to the cereal aisle. There is what appears to be a mum, grandma and three girls under 5. The kids are building a fort out of boxes of weetabix, one of them is climbing up the shelving as if it were Everest. Lots of giggling. The weetabix castle has expanded out into the aisle, some boxes are being used as chairs. Mum and grandma completely ignoring them. Mum disappears round the corner, grandma says she needs juice. The girls start shrieking that they want to stay in their castle and so grandma says they can “as long as you don’t get in anyone’s way”.

Grandma then catches my eye. I have one of those faces that shows exactly what I was thinking, which in this instance was definitely disapproval! She asks if I have a problem, to which I reply that I’m just thankful I didn’t want to buy any weetabix. She gives me a mouthful of abuse, tells me the girls aren’t harming anyone and it’s none of my business. Off she trots to the juice aisle leaving the little darlings to carry on climbing and building.

AIBU to think this is a ridiculous way to carry on? My kids are teens now but I’d never dream of allowing them to behave like this. Not that it’s the kids fault obviously. Do people genuinely not care about other people around them?

@Maverickess this is a very defeatist attitude though, you can say for sure if it was a small business and the business owner was standing there witnessing this happening, they wouldn't just allow somebody to damage or misuse stock. Customer or not. They would ask them politely to stop and if that did not work I expect they would ask them to leave.

Or if they did allow it, then I expect they wouldn't last very long in business.

Perhaps Sainsbury's & co have such distance from their staff and poor management that they wouldn't back up a staff member attempting to defend assets of the business, but still, if you go back to the simplest principles, the property that the customers are damaging belongs to the company, and the shop staff represent the company.

Who ever is going to read a google review of a local supermarket anyway? These shops prosecute shoplifters, so they must have some cases where stock protection trumps customer satisfaction. Whether or not this crosses that line for them I don't know, but it's not for a random other member of the public to decide. Let the staff know and they can decide what to do about it.

Love how the Gran says "it's none of your business".

I'd have said, "you asked for my opinion, so yes it is" lol

As a teacher, yep, you are spot on!

😂
I say it again, may get slammed again.....
However, NOT HAVING CHILDREN WAS THE BEST DECISION TO EVER MAKE FOR MYSELF, BY MYSELF.
Good day.

Attacks on retail staff are widespread and increasing https://www.retailtrust.org.uk/news/retail-trust-calls-for-rising-levels-of-assaults-facing-shop-workers-not-to-go-unrecorded-as-one-in-four-dont-report-abuse/1569.article
Advice in many stores is that staff personal safety trumps the stock and I can see why. This behaviour is a social problem that needs tackling at a much wider level. Supermarket staff aren't police and even with security guards, I would just expect people to know that children shouldn't be messing around with stock.

Indeed. We were out walking our dog the other day and came across a teenage boy (about 13 or 14) with a dog on a lead - he was repeatedly kicking the dog.

We both immediately shouted, told him not to hurt the dog and to train it properly and with kindness if it wasn't doing what he wanted it to do. Whereupon his (we think) grandad appeared and gave us a mouthful of abuse about how it was HIS dog and to fuck off and mind our own business.

We won't be deterred from speaking up - but my goodness, there are some awful people around.

I worked in primark feral kids everywhere they would literally pull full shelves of folded clothes onto the floor while the parents ignored them I was paid basically to pick up and refold these clothes ... I lasted 2 weeks because I just couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore and had to quit before I lost my temper

I almost got taken out by a trolley a few weeks ago by a boy around 12 pushing his sister around in it as if she was on the waltzers. I was queuing and he came flying down the aisle and I had to jump out of the way or I would have got hit. The shop assistant told them off and to put the trolley back and then the parents came along asking what the problem was!! Unfortunately some don't seem to care that their little darlings are feral brats and turn a blind eye 🙄

they sound terrible,

i wonder if the toilet roll parents/weetabix family were taking photos and posting how cool they make their shopping trip on facebook

Would it be unimportant when you go to make some of your £6 a box weetabix and they are smashed to bits? Because honestly I'd be livid

Yes good point! 😂 I'd be a bit pissed at that.

I think a lot of people are way to slack with their children and are forgetting to teach them basic manners and politeness. I had my DD at her swimming class yesterday, she's only 4, and some other kids were hogging the showers at the end, meaning she had to wait whilst shivering. One boy was clearly finished, his Mum could see my little one was waiting so she kept trying to coax him out (with no success) by saying that his sibling will be finished before him. Instead of firmly telling him to get out because other people are waiting. I don't get it because I teach my children to be considerate of others. It's like protecting kids feelings has gone to far and now they'll just grow up to be a bunch of selfish assholes.

My apologies *too

LOL, believe it or not , there is eternal justice for any parent who neglected their kids behaviour management

Ha, try working in retail.......I had a kid whizzing round the aisles on his microscooter last Saturday with his parents seemingly oblivious. It was absolutely rammed, he could have seriously hurt someone.

I think sometimes people expect too much from children… but that sounds atrocious, completely inappropriate. YANBU.

Gross. I would have sought out the manager and given him the heads up.

Yup. I used to work in nurseries/schools, you can always tell which little shits have big shits for parents.

Adults would have had no hesitation to give a good telling off to random children in the not so distant past. When did this change?

Sounds mad and sad. But I try not to judge people. Not everyone has the knowledge or awareness due to a myriad of reasons. I am sure you, together with most people, will have been negatively judged by others for something you think is absolutely acceptable. Be it you as a person/driver/work colleague/shopper or as a parent. Try to be helpful instead of being judgemental.

This is exactly why I only shop online. I’m disabled and it’s a combination of able bodied people using disabled spaces, people/kids crashing into me, feral behaviour, swearing or threatening anyone who challenges them etc that makes shopping an unpleasant and risky experience for me. I haven’t been inside a supermarket or clothing shop for over 10 years!

YANBU.
I hate how kids run feral these days.
When I was young if me and DB had done that we would have gotten a smacked bum (a proper one) and told that children should be seen and not heard from my parents. Alas this doesn't happen these days.
No way would I allow DD to do that. I'd be ashamed.
I do try to avoid going to the supermarket with her as it's stressful with kids but you have to tell them no.
The parents and grandparents attitude says it all.

Online shopping is the way to go if this kind of thing annoys you. It drives me crazy so I order everything that I can online, or go shopping when it's school or (generally) work time. I can do this so I do. Sympathies to those who cannot.

I didn’t feel remotely like ‘being helpful’ when some brat old enough to know better was repeatedly ramming the trolley into my legs while mum looked on unbothered. And yes, I’m afraid I did judge when mum gave me a mouthful for telling him not to.