From E-Hell Blog: Doing the Jelly Roll Stomp

[rhirhi]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

[Dindrane]

A story like this goes beyond your average unruly behavior.  As others have said, these children were destroying the store's property - even if it was legal for them to sell bread in that condition (which it honestly may not have been), no customer would want to buy it.  Especially if they had seen the children walking all over it.

I think it's fair to say the first person you should address is the mother (by reason of not attempting to parent other people's kids).  If she does nothing, then you tell the employee.  If the employee does nothing, you tell the manager.  If the manager does nothing, you tell corporate, and so on.  If I thought there was a reasonable chance that it would be a health code violation to leave bread out in that condition, I'd certainly see about reporting it to the appropriate agency if the employee/manager didn't do anything about it.

[morgana]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

Ok, this is starting to sound like we live in Fahrenheit 451. Really, calling the cops on the kids because they smashed the sandwiches?

wow.

[rhirhi]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

Ok, this is starting to sound like we live in Fahrenheit 451. Really, calling the cops on the kids because they smashed the sandwiches?

wow.

Eh- more for the fear factor in the mother than to actually call the cops. Just a P/A thing. But if the mother tried to call my bluff (ie- 'I know my kids are doing something wrong, I just don't want to stop them', not 'Let me get them the heck outta here'), she'd be sorely mistaken.

Btw- on the Fahrenheit 451, I didn't read that until I was 19/20. Awesome book. Don't remember too much about it (Reading problems, I can read fast, but not absorb information. I had to 're-learn' how to read recently)

[loner]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

Ok, this is starting to sound like we live in Fahrenheit 451. Really, calling the cops on the kids because they smashed the sandwiches?

wow.

I actually don't see the difference between this and shoplifting.  The store is still out the bread as it will have to be thrown out.  I had a friend who worked security at a large grocery store and one of their rules was that if a product was damaged and the person who damaged it passed the check outs without paying they would be detained just as they would be if the product was under their jacket.

[pierrotlunaire0]

One fairly polite way to handle this is to speak to the mother about the "danger" to the children.  "Excuse me, ma'am, but your child almost tripped and fell because the bread rolls she's standing on shifted.  If she were to fall, she could hit her head and it would be very dangerous."

Let's face it, the mother is purposely ignoring what the kids are doing, she doesn't know if they almost fell.  And besides, it is true.  There is a reason we don't tile the floor with bread.

By addressing the mother, you also notify the employee what is happening, because based on counters I have seen in stores, there is a good chance she could not see what was happening.

[BeagleMommy]

Count me in as someone who would have said something.  My son was not allowed to behave like a Neanderthal in stores.  I would have said something to mother (I'm also now hearing my grandmother talking about starving children in China for some reason).

[Amava]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

Ok, this is starting to sound like we live in Fahrenheit 451. Really, calling the cops on the kids because they smashed the sandwiches?

wow.

I'm more wowed at the fact that girls were deliberately walking all over the bread than at the fact that someone stands up against that behaviour. It's not just a kid smashing a few sandwiches accidentally. It's the total disrespect that boggles me. And, of course, the fact that the mother didn't do anything to stop it.

I totally agree with you thought that it should not be *necessary* to take such drastic measures. In a better world, parents would parent their children so that bystanders or cops don't have to get involved. Or store employees would be able to do something about it without having to fear for their job if yet another insulted customer complains because the employee was rude about their children.

Yes, it has come far with the world when people have to threaten with the cops to get some parents to actually parent their children. Really far, and really sad too.

[TychaBrahe]

The girls' walking on the bread is no different than throwing a rock through the window- it's destruction of property. I'd probably volunteer loudly to call the officials while the store owner detained the offenders.

Ok, this is starting to sound like we live in Fahrenheit 451. Really, calling the cops on the kids because they smashed the sandwiches?

wow.

I don't know.  The counter in front of my store's deli probably holds 100 loaves of bread.  At $3-$5 per loaf (it's premium bread) that could be $500. 

At what point do you prosecute for willful destruction of property? 

[Auntie Mame]

The employee may not be allowed to say anything to the Mother for fear of losing their job.  Managers rarely back up their employees and will more often than not throw them under the bus to appease a customer, even a customer who is dead wrong.

[artk2002]

The employee may not be allowed to say anything to the Mother for fear of losing their job.  Managers rarely back up their employees and will more often than not throw them under the bus to appease a customer, even a customer who is dead wrong.

Which is why customers like the OP should speak up.  Although it may be uncomfortable for the employee, at some point it puts the managers in the position of having to decide which customer they want to keep and which one they want to offend.  If nobody complains, then the rude people win by default.

We have similar discussions about nurses and hospitals -- there's a big push in health care towards being "customer friendly," which has really gone overboard.  Patients and their visitors violate the rules and the nurses and staff can't do anything about it, because the rude people will give them bad marks on the surveys.  But if the good patients make it clear that they will complain and mark the facility down if something isn't done, then things may improve.

That's why I used the quote about 'evil' above.  If you stand by and do nothing, then the bad guys will win.  You don't have to be a crusader, but speaking up will help, if enough people can muster the courage to do it.

[Brandydan]

Okay, so I was a prime candidate for E-hell over the weekend. I dashed out to the store for last-minute NECESSARY (as per DH, who was helpfully mopping floors) items such as shredded cheese for homemade pizza, and milk for our coffee fix. I stopped by the meat department to pick up some ground turkey as well, and as I look through the selection, there is a girl, probably 13 years old, calmly though deliberately leaning her elbow into one of those 5+ pound flats of pre-formed hamburgers. Mommy is next to her chatting away with another woman.

'Hey, you plan on taking that piece of meat for yourself?' <- Me
'huh?' the girl seemed surprised that I even bothered to notice.
'Unless you plan on taking that tray of meat and having your mom make burgers from it, then get your elbow off of it.'

NOW, mommy looks back, notices elbow-girl's actions, and yanks her daughter away (and no, she did not seem annoyed at my words, nor did she even acknowledge me). She must be related to the breadstompers.