I witnessed something recently that angered me to no end. Now I’m all ramped up about it and I want to know what you would do.
I went to Winner’s at College Park during my lunch break, and there was a baby in the store crying incessantly. The baby sounded young, and it kinda sounded like there was something wrong (these were pretty angry/painful shrieks). My first thought was, “I gotta get the hell out of this store before that kid drives me nuts.” I didn’t spend any time wondering what was wrong with the baby – it wasn’t any of my business.
Then all of a sudden I heard a raised voice: “She doesn’t WANT a bottle or a diaper change. She just doesn’t like her stroller, you nosy little BITCH!” I saw a woman walking away quickly saying, “Fine, SORRY!”
Throughout the store, people were starting to talk about this woman and her baby. It was getting kind of ridiculous. People were criticizing the mother for not being more attentive, speculating out loud that there was something wrong with the baby, and that it was being neglected, basically just gabbing and gossiping about the situation.
As I got into the line for the checkout, I noticed a small crows of people at the front of the store. In the centre of the crowd were the mother, the screaming infant… and three security guards, who proceeded to escort her and her child out of the store. Meanwhile, another woman is ranting to a man who I assume was a manager, about how she felt bad about calling security but that she “just honestly felt like the woman was neglecting her baby and that she felt she’d done the right thing.” I didn’t bother eavesdropping further, so I don’t know what the manager said in reply.
Now, I know that there are two sides to this story. On one hand:
- The baby did sound distressed
- The noise was disturbing all the other shoppers
- It’s possible, I suppose, that the baby was being neglected
- Theoretically, calling the authorities when you suspect child abuse or neglect is the right thing to do.
On the other hand:
- Nobody knows why that baby was crying
- It might have been teething, colicky or overtired
- Even mothers who have teething, colicky, overtired children have to shop sometimes
- It was nobody’s damn business!
So, my question to you is: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE COLLEGE PARK SECURITY OFFICERS WHO THREW A MOTHER AND SCREAMING CHILD OUT OF A DEPARTMENT STORE BECAUSE THE NOISE WAS DISTURBING OTHER SHOPPERS?
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