Double standards from parents

[Plun]

Why do parents say to their badly behaved kids in shops “the lady (staff) will tell you off”
That’s YOUR job!

Also if the staff tell the kids off, some parents demand to speak to a manager as how dare a shop assistant tell their kids off.

This double standards pisses me right off

Yes it’s awful. The same parents who threaten their kids with Santa not coming

Because they aren't actually expecting a staff member to say anything and are just trying to change their kid's behaviour?

It's not something I do, but surely the reason is obvious.

This has been happening for decades. I remember my mum saying I should behave because 'that lady/man' is watching and they were usually the staff wherever we were.

As a now parent (who, fwiw, does not use this tactic) I'd say perhaps it's because whatever you're doing already isn't working as well as you'd hoped. So drawing your child's attention to an unknown person who might bring their own consequences, might snap them out of whatever less than ideal mode they're in and shock them into behaving nicely. Kids know their parents buttons and boundaries, they don't know the lady in the shop. So maybe that makes them stop what they're doing 🤷🏼‍♀️ it used to work on me! I remember eyeing the staff members (who were indeed usually watching) with a very wary eye indeed!

And in addition to this and to answer OP re staff actually telling kids off, these staff are usually jobs-worths! Taking their role frankly too seriously and crossing the line into parenting roles to run a strict ship!

Because these parents know their kids don’t take them that seriously so they need to bring up the idea of a 3rd party getting involved.

My mum never had to use that on us if we were being too loud or something in a public space, she just had to say a word or give us a look and we would pipe down. Same with the teachers if we went on a school trip, they would deal with us if we stepped out of line and that was enough of a threat. They didn’t need to tell us anyone else was going to tell us off.

I had a friend who worked in a sports centre in a posh area of London and I remember she would get so annoyed when the “yummy mummies” as she called them would say “that lady will be very angry and give you into trouble if you continue” when their kids were misbehaving and then they would smile at her as if they had did their jobs as parents 🤦🏻‍♀️. She would be like nah I’m not saying anything to those kids - I’m just the receptionist.

personally I have never witnessed a parent report a staff member for telling their kids off so I can’t speak to that. Tbf I’ve never seen a staff member tell kids off if their parents were present. Sometimes I wish they would say something to the parents at least, but I understand why they don’t want to get involved and risk backlash.

A bloke said it about the security guard at work this evening, he looked at the kid and said "nah, I won't, that's your dad's job" 😂

@FckThisShit Love that! 😂

The whole Santa / Elf on the Shelf is the same: be good because someone is watching you. It's a cop out.