Employees who have spent any time working in a retail environment know that kids are naturally curious. They are always looking for new things to touch, climb on, or play with.

While this is great in parks and playgrounds, it can be very dangerous in a store, which is why good parents will keep the kids in line. The worker at the skate shop in this story, however, had to keep stepping in to prevent serious injuries to some kids. Of course, the parents were ignoring their kids.

To make matters worse, the Dad got upset every time the employee stepped in to save the child. Eventually, he stormed out of the store without spending a dime because he didn’t like that someone was actually apprenticing his children. Read on to see all the details below.

I’ve read some stories on here about entitled parents, but had never run into one myself until yesterday!

A man came in to the store I work in with his two young daughters.

Ok, sounds like a fairly normal family, so far.

The youngest in diapers still (no pants, wearing a plastic diaper cover with elastic gathers). I mention this so that you can get a sense of her age (maybe two-three) and size (tiny little thing).

The Dad seems like a “Dudebro” type of guy, trying to look and act cool, not unlike most of our customers (skateshop).

Sadly, this is pretty normal. Why can’t parents keep an eye on their children in stores?

The Dad starts to look at our clothing, but lets his daughters have run of the place.

They’re pushing through racks, knocking things off the wall, I see the little one kick a catalogue across the floor (we keep it near the sunglass case for special order reference, but to a toddler, anything within reach is fair game).

Do parents not realize that their kids are making extra work for strangers?

Whatever, I just pick up after them, not worth the hassle. Then, from the front counter I see the toddler excitedly reach up and start tugging on two skateboards, one with each hand, which are on a display rack larger than she is.

I RUN to the back and stop them from falling on her head and say, “Careful sweetie, these are really heavy, you could’ve been hurt.” as the father walks up.

Not only does he neglect his kids, but he gets upset when someone actually protects them.

He annoyedly says, “She would’ve just bruised her toes.” as if I overreacted and should have just let gravity take its course.

Um, #1 – No, they would’ve landed on her head and she would have been injured, and #2 – They’re worth over $100 each and if I can protect them from getting banged up before they leave the store.

Sometimes it is not worth the effort to argue with people.

I just chuckle as though I’m in agreement instead of voicing this though, why start an argument.

I go back to the front of the store and do some other work until I hear some banging from the back of the store, now knowing that the kids are up to something they shouldn’t be in a retail environment and dreading the confrontation.

I wonder how much damage these kids are causing.

When I approach the rear of the store, all I can see of the girls is the little one’s feet, about a foot off the ground, as she swings on one of the clothing racks as though it were a set of monkey bars, no Dad near by.

I put on my concerned tone and say, “Sweetie, please get down, those racks are old and wobbly, I don’t want you to get hurt!”

This family needs to get kicked out before they cause serious problems.

The Dad storms up and says, “Don’t you ever get kids in here?” I ignore him, but I’m thinking, “Yes, but most parents actually watch their kids!”

Trying to avoid the ridiculous attitude of this guy, and now knowing that he’s not going to watch his kids because he thinks they should be allowed to run amok in stores, I say, “Sweetie, I think you need to go stay by your Dad.”

He might spend some money, but the extra work his kids cost would offset that.

She had gotten down from the rack but was still inside it, looking up at me with big eyes, waiting for her Dad to defend her I guess.

The Dad grabbed the eldest girls hand, who had been watching this unfold, and loudly said, “Let’s go girls. I was gonna drop a couple hun in here but I’m not going to buy anything now!” to which I replied, “Thanks for great parenting.”

Some parents are absolutely worthless. You have to feel bad for the kids.

Great lesson to teach your kids, dude. Get mad at the person who is showing concern for her safety.

I was so shocked that’s all I could muster, honestly, customers rarely raise their voices to me.

I hope the manager knows that it was the Dad who was out of line.

I got to the front before he did (different route), and said to my boss, just as the man stormed by, “Did you hear that?!” in an incredulous voice, which hopefully infuriated him.

I have never had a parent react like that before. Kids touch things, there’s so much to see in our store they can’t help themselves sometimes, but I’ve never had a parent be angry at me for politely pointing out the hazards of our store.

This guy knows how to work with kids. It is the parents who are the problem.

I’m super sweet to the kids, always showing concern and calling them “cutie” or “sweetie” or something so they don’t feel bad.

Even if they don’t tell their kids to knock it off (which is the norm), at least the oblivious, tune-out-my-kids parents haven’t gotten angry with me before.

This boss knows what’s up.

My boss didn’t care, he just shrugged and said, “Some loss.”

If the toddler had been hurt because a skateboard had dropped on her or the rack collapsed, I’m sure that that would’ve been our fault (in that guy’s eyes) anyhow and all hell would’ve broken loose, so if he wasn’t going to watch his kids, it’s better off if he finds somewhere else to shop.

People like this are never happy.

Still, the guy was mad, so I’m half expecting he or his wife to come in and try to complain at some point in the near future.

Fingers crossed we never see them again, but if we do, I’m more than ready to explain that this is a store and not a playground.

Parents like this not only put their kids in danger, but also make other people dislike their children. The kids never grow up to learn how to behave well in public, which can make their lives a lot more difficult. Sadly, the parents just don’t get it. Or they don’t care.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a third-generation business owner who is thinking he might know the people in his community a bit too well.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this story.

Take the kids away from this type of parent.

You can keep your money, just get out of the store.

Don’t blame the staff when the parents are neglecting their kids?

This commenter is spot on, sadly.

This commenter says to keep kids in the cart until they are responsible.

It is time to call this what it is, neglect. Parents should be held financially and legally responsible for the problems they cause. While all kids will act up from time to time, it is the parents’ job to step in and watch them. Simply letting them run wild is absolutely unacceptable.