Home and Family is a kid’s first environment. This is where they learn new things and absorb new knowledge that will reflect on their overall behavior and personality.
Therefore, parents are a huge factor in a kid’s actions, decisions, and behaviors. We cannot deny that being a parent is never easy. Once you enter that phase, you must be ready, accountable, and responsible. However, these parents surely left room for good parenting.
1. New Playground
I was in a store the other day, and there was an 8-year-old with his own cart. Parents are nowhere to be seen. You could hear this kid through the whole store just yelling constantly, not words just like "ahhhhhhhh."
I see him about three times while shopping. The first time, he is lying in an aisle, just yelling. The second time I see him in a different aisle, his cart is just parked across it.
A guy is trying to get past, so he needs to move the cart. The third time I see him, he is riding a cart and crashes into an old lady. Keep in mind this is all during constant yelling.
It was crazy. I then kind of watched him for a bit and followed him around for a minute to see if I could find the people that owned him so I could share an opinion, but he rode his cart past the checkouts, and I decided to screw it and got in line.
Gremlin87
2. Screaming Karen
I was driving along my street when this 4-6-year-old kid rolled out of a driveway on a tricycle. I stopped and waited for him to get out of my way as he seemed to be doing.
His mother runs down the driveway and starts screaming at me rather than getting her kid out of the road. Just wow, right?
Without waiting, another car comes up behind and just goes around, clipping the kid's tricycle and knocking him to the ground. The lady just screams at me even more.
She wouldn't stop or get out of the way. I finally just held my horn down till she gathered her kid up and got out of the way.
--__KAOS__--
3. The Bystander
This is like a 5-year-old kid emptying a 4-pint bottle of milk all over the floor at the supermarket where I worked, and her mum just stood there and watched.
To add to that, the child managed to place the empty bottle in the center of this now 2m wide puddle, and the mum just looked at me and said you've got some cleaning up to do.
Unbelievably rude, especially to the janitors, who now had to clean up the mess that her kid did. She absolutely infuriated me, though.
7PurpleAvocados
4. Disturbing Kids
At a movie theater, sitting in the fourth or fifth row with friends. This was a rated-R movie. Two kids, maybe 4 and 7 years old, are in the audience.
They start playing and running back and forth at the front of the theater. The 4-year-old falls and starts to cry.
We were waiting for their parents to come over.
The parent doesn't bother to get up. My friend finally went to console the child after a few minutes. The mother never bothered to get up.
TheRedWeddingPlanner
5. Too Young
When this famous game came out, we had this woman and her son come through and buy a copy. The mom was a power mom. High class, pan suit, on the cell phone the whole time. Son couldn't have been older than 10.
She walked in, grabbed the game, and said, "This is the one?" The boy nodded, and they went to the counter to check out. On the way out of the store, I'm the last person you will see. Checking their receipts, I asked the woman if she knew what kind of content was in the game.
She says no. I take a minute to explain it, ESRB ratings, and why that game isn't great for a ten-year-old. She's surprised at this (she didn't even take the time to read the title "Grand Theft Auto"). She looks at the son and says, "Are you sure that's what you want?" The son nods.
"Well, you get what you want, I guess. He's seen a lot of things, so I'm sure this won't be anything new. We don't monitor your computer or anything, so this should be fine."
I take one last opportunity to explain that the kid wouldn't have even been legally allowed to purchase the game if it wasn't for her. She says, "Well, glad I was here!" And leaves.
My problem here wasn't that she let him play that game (I don't think he should have, but that's her right), but she was so disconnected from her kids' hobbies. Even after learning what was in the game, she was so detached and ambivalent that she didn't care about the kid.
[deleted]
6. Playful Kid
Standing outside a supermarket a couple of years back, a woman walks out, a toddler in a pushchair, a kid who might have been about 7 or 8 walking maybe 5 feet behind her.
The older kid had a small rubber ball, bouncing it on the ground and catching it. He seemed perfectly happy. It wasn't making any noise or bouncing around or anything. It wasn't bothering anyone. He was just bouncing and catching his ball as he walked.
The woman (I assume it was his mom) noticed this after a minute, spun around, grabbed him hard by the upper arm, and then shouted right into his face.
She said, "If you keep bouncing that ball, you’re going to get your lesson," then just turned around and walked on with the pushchair.
The poor kid just looked so... emptied. Like he wasn't even allowed this one small pleasure. It doesn't matter how annoying you find it when your kid bounces a ball; that's just never an okay thing to say to your child.
butwhatsmyname
7. The Diagnose
A couple years ago, I was on a shuttle in Yosemite. A little girl, approximately age 10, had this nasty tight cough. Being in the medical field, I was concerned and asked if she had asthma.
The father answered in a curt and rather annoyed tone that she was fine.
They were doing controlled burns in the park, which was causing my own asthma to act up. They clearly have no clue about it.
The girl was not fine, as she clearly was struggling to breathe. I bit my tongue, but to this day, I wish I had somehow persuaded the father to get her help.
FartMartin
8. No Wish Come True
I used to work on a pediatric cancer floor. We had a little girl who was dying. Make-A-Wish gave her a cruise to this cartoon theme park. She was so excited to go she talked about it for weeks.
The week she was supposed to be on the cruise, she was admitted to the unit with a fever. We were all like, 'What happened to the cruise'?
It took a while, but we eventually learned the truth when her grandmother told us what had happened. Her parents took the spending money they got.
They went on an all-night partying binge the night before and were wasted and passed out when it came time to drive to the cruise ship. We could not even look at them ever again when they were there.
TomTheNurse
9. Double Strike
I was waiting in the vehicle while my wife ran into a grocery store to grab a few things. A woman comes out with three young kids under the age of eight.
We're both parked right next to a place to put your shopping cart, but she leaves it between the noses of our vehicles. None of the kids are old/big enough to sit up front.
Still, one does without a seat belt, another kid in the back doesn't appear to be wearing a seat belt, and the third kid is just standing and holding onto the front two seats while the woman drives off.
My wife comes out and starts telling me about a woman with three kids who were acting unruly and cursing a bunch, and then I tell her my story. It was the same woman.
spanxxxy
10. Left Unwatched
I was at a family reunion a few years back, and my friend, who we brought along, decided to go swimming in the hotel pool. We were swimming, and this little girl tried playing with us, so we played with her.
After a while, my friend told me, "I don't think anyone is watching her," so we asked her, and she said, "No." This girl said she was five and she was with her brothers.
I went to the front desk and told them there was a little girl unsupervised in the pool. I told them her name, and they called the family.
We waited with the girl for a few hours and even fed her. Finally, someone came and got her. I remember this exactly: "Are You Paul's Kids?" The man said, and they responded with a "yes," and they left.
The sad part is the Dad couldn't be bothered to watch or come get his 5-year-old kid and her like 8-year-old brothers. Something bad could’ve happened to them.
KittyNinjaMaster
11. The Brat
I was in a department store, and this couple was shopping with their 3 kids. The boy child, who looked to be around 8, picked up a hairbrush and smacked his sister, who started crying.
The mom said, "Alex, don't do that. That isn't nice." The boy replied, "Srew you!". The mom, still ignoring her crying daughter, says, "Come on, Alex, don't say that", to which Alex then hits his mother with the hairbrush.
The mom bends down and says, "Alex, that really isn't nice." Alex responds by slapping his mother across the face and saying, "Screw you!" The mom simply said, "Alex, that wasn't necessary," and continued shopping. The dad just watched all of this like it wasn't his problem and eventually just walked away.
Electric_Evil
12. Losing Control
I doubt it'll be the worst example in this thread, but while I sat outside a noodle shop with a friend and my three dogs, a mum and dad went inside to order.
They decided to leave their two children to run around outside and come up and hit/slap/poke/scream at my dogs. That was super annoying.
The children only giggled and ran off when I told them to leave us alone and would then repeat the whole thing half a minute later.
The parent's only reaction was to occasionally glance outside and smile as though it was something cute and their kids weren't disturbing my previously napping dogs. Ffs. Control your children.
galaxyspacedog
13. Easily Swayed
I was buying a game, and another 5-year-old child was here begging her mom to buy one game. She eventually accepted after begging enough.
Then, this kid proceeded to ask for another game. Mother said, "No, you chose this one first. We get this one." But the kid was begging.
Eventually, after enough begging, he got her to go. "Okay, you will pick this one instead."
But the kid was still begging because he wanted the first game he chose, too.
"It's one of the other! We're not getting both!" Mother's voice started building, and the kid whim went back and forth between the two games he wanted.
Eventually, the mother sighed and proceeded without another word to buy both games. I bet she’ll definitely have a hard time doing that.
ZScience
14. Baby Steps
A few years ago, I was waiting at a bus stop when I saw a mother and daughter (2-3 years old) rushing to catch a bus. Except it was the mother in a rush, pulling and yelling at the daughter to hurry up.
Mind you, they have short legs, are not very fast, or maybe understand urgency. The poor kid was trying. They eventually missed the bus, and the mother shouted at the kid.
She said, "Look at what YOU did! We missed the bus!" "I'm sorry, mommy," while looking kind of confused and on the verge of crying.
Honestly, the kid looked light enough to carry it briefly. The mother didn't have a stroller or anything to carry besides her purse. This is not the worst, but that kinda crap will make a kid think they are to blame when they continue to grow up treated that way.
dunnoy170_9
15. Loud Store
A few weeks ago, I was at an ice cream shop in LA. It was more of a high-end, gourmet place with nice decor (ice cream was phenomenal, BTW. Salt and Straw in Venice).
Someone comes in with 3 young boys (probably all between 8 and 10). The boys are kind of loud and rowdy at first. But then they literally start wrestling on the floor of this crowded shop. Rolling around, screaming, fighting each other.
Mind you, this is a small shop - their "parents" couldn't have been more than 10 feet away, but they did nothing. Acted as though the kids weren't there.
The poor girl behind the counter had to kindly ask them to get off the floor, and of course, they didn't listen to her. I had to literally step over them to get to the bathroom.
There was a dog in the shop at the same time (again, LA), and it was WAY better behaved than those little brats. "Parenting" is a verb. You have to DO it.
ernilion
16. Rewarded Behavior
I used to work in daycares, and I've seen more than I could write. The one that sticks with me most is there was a child who was sent home in the morning for throwing chairs, punching children, kicking teachers, calling teachers stupid, etc.
Not being safe. The parent was called to pick them up.
Brought them into the room to get their stuff, screaming at them and berating them in front of the other children while shoving them out the door as the child was crying.
The next day, when they came back home, the child told us all about how they got to watch TV and eat popsicles at home. Wonder how their behavior was the next day? Exactly the same. Don't reward bad behavior.
dinosaursrawk15
17. Eyes On Me
I had a patient before who was really spoiled by his mom. At the time, I was only subbing for a fellow PT because he was studying for a licensure exam.
The mom was in the room when I met them for their first session with me. I was holding the child, not harshly, but he was thrashing and trying to escape.
His mom was quietly watching, so I thought everything was cool. Then the child sort of fell forward, but I was able to catch him before he got hurt.
The mom suddenly got furious and snatched her child from me, all the while opening up her blouse so her child could suckle.
The child was spoiled af, and he was almost 3 years old. Every time he would cry, his mom would always put out her lady front part, no matter the location, so he could suckle. Not even to feed but just to suckle.
I have no qualms about public breastfeeding, but this is on a whole 'nother level. Sometimes, you gotta let go of the baby in your child seriously.
[deleted]
18. The Opposites
The girl I dated, a sister and boyfriend, had a kid. They taught him everything opposite. The kid was like 3 years old. Imagine that?
I want to give you an idea of what I mean. Dogs were cats, water was sand, and Sky was the ground. Down was up, up was down. Opposites, right?
They thought this was the height of hilarity. I had heard my GF talk about it in a joking manner. Then I witnessed it, I blew a freaking gasket.
Later, she said I was out of line. It wasn't that bad. With that comment, I walked out the door. I'm really disappointed in myself.
Derelyk
19. Imaginative Kid
I was at a chain bookstore (bookmen) when a little kid, maybe 5 or 6, came around the corner doing finger guns and fighting off aliens or whatever he'd imagined up.
He saw me and ducked behind a shelf before firing a few shots at me. I smiled and reacted a bit before going back to browsing the games in front of me.
I then hear a woman, whom I assumed to be his mother, say, "Stop using your imagination. It's annoying."
I forced myself to put down the game I had in my hand and walk to the back of the store as far from her as possible before that child had to witness me punch out that horrible troll of a woman.
Rubilon_D
20. Left Out
I've seen a few things, but in the most recent...I was at an outdoor mall just after opening, and a woman walking in front of me left her four-year-old son outside at a mechanical train (the kind you put quarters in).
She then walked three stores up and went inside a store. I just stood there, shocked. I waited for about a minute, thinking she would return and I would just stay to ensure he was OK.
But she didn't. I asked the boy if he wanted to go get Mommy, and he said no. I then walked to the store window and saw that she was shopping for clothes!
I walked inside and, glared at her and told her that it was against the law to leave a young child alone. She just smiled and said, "It is?" and left the store, took him, and I assume went home.
What made this even more frustrating was that she looked to be about 35 years old and well-dressed. As she passed me by in the store, I told her that she needs to bring him with her wherever she goes from now on. I hope that she heard me.
shanirae
21. No Crying
At a child's birthday party at a friend's house. There's a trampoline in the backyard and a group of children jumping on it.
One boy, probably 6 or 7 years old, takes a weird fall and thwacks his head really hard against support. It was one of those "Ooooooohhh" moments, seeing it happen.
He starts crying, and I immediately start towards him, saying, "Hey buddy, you are okay?" But before I can finish, his dad comes barreling out of the house.
The dad was mad, shouting, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CRYING?! WHAT DID I TELL YOU? I DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT! YOU'RE NOT A FREAKING BABY!"
I say, "Hey, take it easy. He took a really hard fall," he glares back at me and says, "He'll be fine! He needs to learn!" Ugh.
PolloDiablo
22. The Dress
I once encountered this woman with her son, who is about 7-8 years old, in the store. She was looking for a red dress. And asking around for one.
Her kids run up to this pretty Green dress and try to encourage mom towards it.
She loses her mind telling him he KNOWS that it isn't red and that he's being a "freaking irritating little prick."
It didn’t even cross her mind her kids, who looked so confused and defeated, were color blind. Upon seeing it, I could not help but think that the kid was having a hard time.
pumpkinbread987
23. Heartless Treatment
This was about 7 years ago. Went to a local restaurant for lunch with my wife and then 6ish month-old son. Seated right next to us were a woman, her adult son, and her daughter's autistic 7-year-old.
The entire time, this kid was very well-behaved, just stimming quietly. Still, his grandmother and uncle went on and on about how horrible he was and how much they were mad at his mother for burdening them with an awful kid.
We ate quickly, and my wife went to the car with our son right away because, after 10 minutes of this, I was pissed.
I told that woman that she had a wonderful grandson and that I was impressed at how well-behaved he was.
I also said that she clearly resents him for things that aren't his fault and that it was no wonder the poor kid's mother was a deadbeat. She had a crappy parent that never taught her basic decency.
The woman responded with, "If you had an autistic kid, you'd understand." I am autistic. So is my now 7-year-old son. I can safely say that the woman was just looking for an excuse to be a horrible person. Her scrappy son, too.
DaveSW777
24. Unbothered Mum
When I worked in a shop, a woman and her 2 kids, one in a pushchair and the older one running around like crazy, were screaming at the top of their lungs the whole time they were there.
My colleague had to leave the shop floor because the screaming gave her a headache. The mum paid no attention to their behavior at all.
Then she holds out her hand to the kid in the pushchair (who's holding something) and says, "Give that to mummy." So the kid throws it 5 feet away on the floor. The mum tells him, "Good boy," as she walks over to pick it up.
eightball_shake
25. The Bad Wish
My girlfriend and I were in a store, walking down the aisle behind two little boys who just kept talking at their dad walking in front of them.
They were both asking him questions nonstop, and he wasn't responding at all. We weren't paying much attention to them until, suddenly, the dad stopped, spun around, looked both boys right in their eyes, and told them he wished they would just disappear.
Then his eyes pan up to my girlfriend and me, looking right at him in total disbelief, and his face drops in shame. He grabs both traumatized boys by the hands.
Both of them are now completely crying, and swiftly speed walk away as we stand there stunned. I'm pretty sure he left them both on the side of the road on the way home.
Mr_Notacop
26. Not The Bread
Last year, My ex neighbors completed chavs and living on social security handouts. The husband/father disappeared for about two weeks, leaving the woman and their three sons alone.
Took me about a week to 10 days to realize he had disappeared (I tried to avoid involving myself in their affairs). Get home from uni to hear the woman screaming at her sons, who I can hear are clearly crying through the walls of my terraced house.
They are crying because 'they don't want bread for dinner again,' and she's screaming at them that there is nothing else to eat.
I'm a grown man in my 30s, and my missus comes in from work to find me about as upset as I ever would get about something.
Heartbreaking. Nothing I could do because I'm certain my involvement would have caused god knows what amount of hassle. The father reappeared a couple of days later.
Rabkillz
27. Swimming Trainer
As a 15-year-old lifeguard, I was once standing at the deep end of a huge club pool (3 lifeguards total). Suddenly, someone tugged at my arm.
It was a frightened mother who couldn't speak English. She motioned to the water with a foam noodle stick, and I saw her son bobbing up and down behind me. I slid into the water and yanked him out.
I then found out his mom had forced him into the water to teach him how to swim. The head lifeguard warned her that she had to be in the shallow water with him.
20 Minutes later, during the adult swim, she sneaks back into the pool and convinces her kid to swim alone. Of course, he couldn't, so she screamed out for help.
We sprint over and fish her son out. The head guard walks the hysterical mother out of the club and shuts the door on her. Deserved it.
They were the first blacklisted members in the club's history. You'd be surprised how many parents just assume their kids can't drown and then get angry at lifeguards for not teleporting into the water.
FrenchFruits
28. Spoiled Lifestyle
This 18-year-old boy has been living in an Asian country for a decade but refuses to eat any normal or 'Asian' food like rice, noodles, etc.
His mother basically spoiled him since he was young, so he's only ever eaten store-bought pizza and fries for YEARS. Yep, you read it right.
Once, he played a board game with some of his cousins (all much younger than him) and lost. I guess he usually plays with his mum, and she always lets him win, so he throws a massive tantrum after losing. Please remember that he's 18, not 8.
His mother can't see how spoiled or sheltered he is and thinks he's some perfect human life form. She laughs when he's rude or yells at other people because he's 'so funny.'
Once, he got quite obsessed with a female cousin, followed her around, and just basically breathed down her neck. Everyone was incredibly disturbed by it, and his mum actually ENCOURAGED it because she was happy that he 'finally found someone he wanted to be friends with. '
Just a stubborn, blinded mother. It's really sad because people have tried to talk to her about her son, but she always takes offense and refuses help.
mntron
29. Baby Bed
When I was 18, I worked in the bedding department at a store. This couple came in with a baby that was not more than maybe 3 or 4 months old. They put the baby on the top bunk of a kid’s bunk bed display and walked away to shop.
These bunk beds were just displays, so it's not like they were bolted to anything or had a baby rail on the side.
Hell, they were barely screwed together.
Me and my coworkers were horrified and asked the couple to remove the baby. They got super pissed and made a big deal about how they just wanted to shop.
[deleted]
30. Dirty Store
I was working at a home improvement center and happened to be the manager on duty one evening, as well as the only one working in the bath department.
A couple came in with their 3 young children, the youngest sitting in the seat in the front of the cart (so quite a little, probably two?).
I was helping them with bathtubs, and the two older children were running amok while the youngest started crying. A lot. The parents ignored their children and continued to ask questions about tubs.
Eventually, the youngest revealed the guy's reason for crying: he puked. Everywhere. All over himself, the cart, and the floor.
At this point, I go and get some paper towels from my desk for them to clean up their child, and then I get a mop to clean up the vomit all over the floor.
The parents seem annoyed that I'm distracted. They continue to ask me complicated bathtub questions while I'm attempting to clean up their sick child's vomit (who still hasn't stopped crying because he's clearly not feeling well).
I had to ask them to at least wait until I finished mopping before I told them more about bathtubs. I kept going. They would take their unhappy, sick kid home (and maybe the other annoying ones, too) and then come back another time.
They stayed for about another 45 minutes and didn't buy a tub that night because they were just gathering information. That poor kid.
youre_a_baboon
31. Crushed Excitement
I was waiting in line to check out one day. There was a family in front of me - mom, dad, two kids. The youngest child was probably seven or so and had a candy bar in his hand.
He was happily telling his mom how excited he was and that he was going to use his birthday money to get it. All their groceries rang up, and the total was apparently more than expected.
The mother, instead of putting back one of the three cases of PBR, took the kid's money and made him put back the candy bar.
Every time I think about that kid's crushed spirit - he didn't cry or fight; he just gave up like it had happened a million times before.
I regret that I was so shell-shocked that I didn't immediately pick up the entire box of candy, buy it, and give it to him. Hopefully, I'll never see something like that again, but I'm ready if I do.
slavkody
32. Roam, Little Boy
I recently had to return something to a store. While waiting in the customer service line, there was a woman (maybe in her late 20s) and her child, two people, in front of me. The small boy was probably 6-7 years old.
Off to the side was a cart filled with returned items. The kid proceeded to go into the cart and start pulling out stuff and throwing it everywhere.
The mom did nothing but look straight ahead. Then, the kid found a Valentine's balloon on a wooden stick. He walks around, hitting the people in line in front of his mom with it.
Again, she does nothing. One of the people that he was hitting finally turned around and looked at her. She said to the boy, "Quit it".
As we continue to wait, this little boy decides to wander behind the counter where the employee is working.
She initially found it amusing, but then he started hitting her with a stick balloon.
After a minute, she tells him he needs to go back to the other side. Meanwhile, Mom of the Year continues to do nothing. The kid gets bored, returns to the line, and starts hitting his mom with the balloon.
Finally, she snatched it away from him, and he freaked out. He returns to the cart, takes more stuff out, and throws it everywhere.
Behind me was a young girl and her mom. The girl was probably 10 years old and asked her mom why it was okay for him to do that.
I didn't hear her mom's response, but obviously, I wasn't the only one in disbelief by this kid's mom's lack of discipline.
awmarlow
33. Daily Routine
The neighbor children do stuff like this on a regular basis. 2 summers ago, they were on rollerblades, and instead of getting out of the way, they skated back in front of my car. One of them sat down in front of my car.
I did a wee little 'beep' (not laying on the horn, just a teeny beep). Kids started yelling at me, so I rolled down the window and nicely told them they needed to move when a car came down the street or they were going to end up hurt.
They moved, and I went on. Thought it was all good… In the 30 seconds it took me to get to my own driveway and get out of my car, one of them ran to the mother (who had been inside while her kids played in the street with no supervision, BTW).
Their mother then came out and stood on her front step, SCREAMING at me from 2 houses down. For a year afterward, every single time those little kids were outside when I was, they would yell at me, "Remember the time you said you were gonna run us over?!"
I still have major stress any time I see any of them outside. This morning, when I left for work, the mom was loading the kids in the car when I walked out to my car.
My hands started shaking, my knees went all wobbly, and I couldn't breathe till I got in the car. Screw that woman for not teaching her kids to move for cars and to not be jerks.
Microwench
34. Unloading Frustration
There is a woman I know with a kid who is about 12 now with autism. We connected because I have a brother with Aspbergers. While her son was far deeper on the spectrum.
I understand well enough. We chatted while he ran around on the playground with my friend's son, and she unloaded a lot of her stress raising a child in apparent relief.
That was all well and good. When we started setting up play dates for me to spend time with her son, I discovered that the unloading is a 24/7 thing.
Constantly talking about how awful her son can be, how stressed she always is, and her "almost saintly" sacrifices she has made for him, all the while talking bad about her ex-husband and saying how her son never sleeps and always cusses and hits her.
The whole time she's ranting, her son and I are sitting on the floor with his Barbies between us, him sadly waiting for her to finish.
She never actually let me play with him, for the record, even when I politely tried to excuse us or play while she talked. (When we played, she weaseled her way in until I looked at her again.)
I still keep tabs on them on Facebook, and he is doing better in public school. He opened up and made friends. She has yanked him out despite his begging and is back to homeschooling. It's heartbreaking and maddening to watch.
jenamac
35. Pathological Liar In The Making
I hated the bad parents when I was a teacher. They made the job nearly impossible. "Why the heck is my daughter failing your class?"
I had this one parent yell at me on parent-teacher conference night. I showed her my grade book and my attendance book. She turned in 1 assignment and missed over 80% of classes.
The daughter said I was lying. I had copies of other teachers' attendance books and gradebooks. She rarely went to school, but she said we all lied.
So, naturally, the parent took the daughter's side and accused the entire school of conspiring against her daughter. This girl was toxic when she came to class. I can't imagine she acted much better outside of school or at home.
RoleModelFailure
36. Making Job Harder
When I used to work at a Supermarket, kids would go into the paper goods section all the time and build forts out of paper. Gosh.
It was a major pain for us because they would essentially destroy an entire 30-foot section, and we would have to sort it all back into its proper place.
A manager of mine found some pre-teens doing this one day and proceeded to yell at them.
Then their mom came over and asked what was happening, and he yelled at her.
Laughed so hard that day. I had another time when some high schoolers were doing it, and we told them that we were calling the cops, and they went sprinting out the front door.
Ratertheman
37. Just Helping
I was at the grocery store, and this kid was just by herself. She was mauve 3-4. I couldn't see a parent or anything and didn't think anything of it.
As we were passing, she put a plastic bag over her head and then tried to eat it. Sucking in and stuff. I immediately took it off her head and told her not to eat it.
She just blankly stares at me. I'm still trying to look for her mom, but I don't even see anyone looking this way. As I turned to leave, I heard this woman screaming.
Then she comes over, snatches her kid, and asks me what I did to her. I was just like, alright, I'm out. I'll let your kid choke on a plastic bag next time.
Mongoosedog12
38. The Artist
I worked at a restaurant back in high school for about 2 years. During my 2nd month working, there was a mom cheering on her 8-year-old, smearing Mac and cheese all over the wall connected to the booth.
She was doing that because "Aww, he's an artist, so cute!" I wish I could've handed her all the cleaning supplies and made her clean up her kid's mess.
But noooo, it's the busboy's job. Yeah, that sucks. Best job I ever had because the people working there were awesome, though.
GethHunter
39. Shake Drop
I work in a drive-through liquor store (Australia). One night, about 10 minutes before closing time, a woman pulls up with her kids in the car with a fresh drink.
The kid in the back makes eye contact with me, and I smile at him.
He then proceeds to stick his arm out of the window with a smile on his face and drop his chocolate thick shake on the floor, and it goes everywhere.
Minding you, it's peak summer time, and it gets to about 30 Celsius easily every day. The woman didn't apologize but yelled at her kid for wasting it.
Dr4cul3
40. Not A Kid Theater
Went to see a movie. The toddler starts screeching and talking loudly. Parents don't do anything. I gently try to shush the toddler, and the mother turns around and shushes me loudly and angrily.
The toddler continues being loud. I get the manager, and he tells the couple to keep the kid quiet. After the movie, everyone leaves, and my friend and I stay to watch the credits and talk.
Suddenly, the dad was standing next to me and demanded to know why I brought the manager. He said that I was very rude for shushing his kid and that they were paying customers and had a right to be there, too.
I was floored. This person honestly thought that there was no issue with his screeching kid disturbing the movie. I calmly told him this was a movie theater where people could watch movies and not listen to kids screaming.
He insisted that I was rude, and they paid to be there. My friend finally told him to get the heck out of our faces, and he left.
Not only did this guy think he was in the right, but apparently, he had waited out in the lobby for us to leave, and when we didn't show up, he came back into the theater to yell at us. Because I shushed his kid. For disturbing the movie. Lordy
RousStar
41. Ultimate Disturbance
I went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, and there was a lady and her probably 3-year-old child in the front row.
The mom basically sat there while the little girl ran around playing and making loud noises in the front of the theater during the movie.
I had to keep saying stuff to the lady, and finally, they left for a brief period and then came back again, and it started over.
The grandmother was with them, too, and started yelling and cursing at me during the movie for telling her daughter to take the little girl out of the theater.
After telling them repeatedly that it was rude and they shouldn't have a little girl in there like that, they finally left. It wasn't the little girl's fault; she was too young to pay attention, and it wasn't a good movie for a kid that age.
After the movie ended, some younger guys sitting behind us thanked me for standing up to them and getting them to leave. We also got free tickets to see the movie again because of the disturbance.
SquatchOut
42. Consideration Left The Room
Outside Tesco a few weeks ago was a young woman and her three quite cute kids. She was on her phone, obviously waiting for someone to pick them up, and they were entertaining themselves.
One of them, a boy about 6ish, had a go and managed to pick up one of the big weights holding down the corner of one of those inevitable bloody RAC stands outside the shop while the hi-vis guy was looking the other way.
He staggers over to the woman with it, so proud of himself, going, "Mum! Mum! Look what I'm doing! Mum! Look! Mum! Look what I'm doing! Look, Mum!"
Eventually, she tears her eyes away from the screen and sees what he's doing. She screams at him, "Put that down now! You can't do that! What are you doing!? Put it back where it came from! Don't pick it up again!"
The kid was all flustered, trying to do what he was told, while the RAC man quietly took it from him and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
Also, a mother was saying her young toddler wouldn't go to sleep at night. While we talked, she handed him a beaker of something, and I asked what he was drinking-- tea.
I looked surprised, and she apparently thought I was surprised by a toddler liking tea, and she was like, "They like it if you put a couple of sugars in! He always wants it now!"
I explained that maybe the caffeine wasn't helping him sleep, and she gave me the most skeptical look ever. I'm a doctor. She'd brought the kid in for advice.
Anytimeisteatime
43. Worst Customers
I work in a restaurant, and a while ago, I had a table with younger parents. About 5 minutes after they had ordered and had gotten back from our salad bar, I heard their child (maybe 4 or 5) screaming at the top of their lungs and throwing things everywhere.
There was a significant baby corn, peas, goldfish, and cottage cheese blast radius surrounding this kid. My other tables are noticeably uncomfortable as the parents are doing nothing, completely ignoring the child's behavior, so I confront them.
"Is everything alright? Does your kid need anything at the moment? Is he hurt? Because he's making quite a bit of noise...." Mom replied, "Oh, everything is fine. He's just finding his voice."
I was dumbfounded that this couple was completely fine with what their child was doing. No reaction. No punishment. No, they were not taking him to the car to calm down.
Some of my other tables even confronted them, and they continued to do nothing..... So everyone just put up with it..... And I got some awful tips from every one of those tables, including the parents who didn't even attempt to pick up any of the destruction their child had left.
pickettfence22
44. In The Middle
Assumptions on ages and relationships. On the subway, an 8-year-old hit his 4-year-old sister. Mother eventually steps in by physically putting herself in the middle and doesn't ever actually tell him to stop.
The kid just switches target to her, and the girl starts hitting her in the back. At this point, I said something.
I tried telling them that they only have one Mum and should cherish her.
Mum doesn't like this and starts saying, "How dare you talk to my children," and immediately takes them off the stop that we just arrived at. This all happened at 1 am.
Totts9
45. Limitless Kid
About 12 years ago, I was on a bus in the Eastern suburb of Sydney with a hipster mom (yes, Sydney had hipsters in those days) and her toddler son.
The kid was a turd. We walked up to people he did know, took things off them, went through their bags, and tried to push people aside when they tried to stop them.
At one point, the kid took a handbag from an old lady and emptied it on the floor. I asked his mother, "Can you control your child" to which the mother replied, "I don't like to restrict my child with boundaries." In the douchiest accent, I've heard.
OH1177