What would you do?

I was at a kiosk getting photos developed at a Walmart when the store manager informed me that if my son kept “doing that” we’d have to leave the store.

My question: “Doing what?”

I thought that my son was around the corner looking at movies. Instead, he was climbing up on the shelves and riding exercise bikes. He was being unsafe.

Apparently, a Walmart  “associate” witnessed this, and instead of approaching me, went and got the manager.  The associate pointed me (and my husband, who was nearby) out to the manager, who gave me this ultimatum.

The manager informed me that my son had been on the bikes for several minutes, and seemed to think that I knew about this.  I did not.

Immediately, I went to get my son.  I agreed that he was being unsafe, and assured the manager that if he kept climbing the shelves we would of course leave the store.

Then I asked if the associate or manager had personally approached my son and asked him to get down.

Of course not.

I asked the manager if the associate had approached my husband, since he hadn’t approached me and he obviously knew we were the parents.

Nope.

Then I asked why the associate didn’t approach us rather than going for the manager to get us kicked out of the store.

Silence.

Thank you for shopping at Walmart.

I asked my aunt, who works at a different Walmart, what she thought.  She told me a story of how an associate told this boy to get off of the bikes, because he could fall and get hurt.

The mother, who was at the other end of the bike aisle,  yelled at the associate– “Don’t tell my son what to do!  He is my child… you have no right…” and demanded to talk to a manager.  The manager came out, heard the story, and reprimanded the associate.

My aunt thought that the associate in my case was probably afraid that if he approached my son or myself, he could lose his job.

Sad.

What happened to the village?  What happened to watching out for kids and each other?

I don’t know.

But I am grateful when others mention something to my kids, or at least to me, when they are being unsafe.

Once at a school event I looked up and  saw my son climbing the stacks of cafeteria tables and chairs.  I couldn’t get to  him through the crowd.  A fellow PTO mom saw him and got him down. Then she saw me in the back of the room, caught my eye, and apologized.

No apology necessary… thank you!

Once a stranger at a store saw my son run away from me and blocked the door.

Thank you again!

Having a child with special needs has taught me to appreciate so much more the value of the village.   Especially when I have more children than I do hands.

How do you feel about the “village”?