Monday, January 22, 2007
Guilty of Nothing
Yesterday, our youngest son bolted into the bedroom and asked if he could go to the grocery store with a friend of his. He and the friend had heard that another friend had been at the grocery store recently and had been there no more than ten minutes when a store employee told him to leave because he knew he was there to shoplift. My son and his friend wanted to go to the grocery store and avenge their friend. While a valiant maneuver, I couldn't let him go. I've long been afraid something like this would happen, where a store employee would pick on one of my kids just because they were young and at the store without parents. It's a horrible, silly attitude that adults have toward kids. Every time our son has gone to the grocery store with a friend, I've forewarned him to be on his best behavior and not to act like he's up to something suspicious.
Yesterday afternoon, we finally allowed Young Son #2 and friend to go to the grocery store. They were followed around the store by an employee, even though they went to purchase something specific and my son ended up buying several other things (a coconut, a star fruit, and a cucumber - he realized once he got home that he doesn't really like coconut, but wanted the experience of opening one). Here they were, guilty of nothing, except for being customers, but they were treated like shoplifters. Crazy. How long would an adult put up with this before deciding not to shop at a store again?
Yesterday afternoon, we finally allowed Young Son #2 and friend to go to the grocery store. They were followed around the store by an employee, even though they went to purchase something specific and my son ended up buying several other things (a coconut, a star fruit, and a cucumber - he realized once he got home that he doesn't really like coconut, but wanted the experience of opening one). Here they were, guilty of nothing, except for being customers, but they were treated like shoplifters. Crazy. How long would an adult put up with this before deciding not to shop at a store again?
Labels: grocery store, guilt, innocence, shoplifting, shopping, son
