The Apricot Incident
Posted by Briana Meade on Friday, December 23, 2011
Under: Parenting
A few weeks ago, on a trip to a Safeway in Everett, Washington, a 4-year old named Savannah ate some apricots. The apricots were eaten straight out of the bag and placed back on the shelf. Savannah was not left to eat her "stolen" apricots in peace. A security guard apprehended her and her father and proceeded to ban them both from shopping at Safeway again.
The little girl was made to write ,although she has yet to learn to read or write, her name down on a piece of paper to acknowledge that she understood the consequences of her action.
So how did it turn out?
The Safeway security guard was fired for berating the little girl.
Safeway apologized. Happy Ending.
You can find this story Here
Fine. I understand that the customer is always right. Obviously, this was a four-year old who didn't know any better. Four year-olds do weird things.
However.....
My first question is: where was her father in this whole deal? Apparently, his back was turned, in the sense that he never saw her eat the dried apricots.
Yeah, right.
Now, let me qualify all of this by saying that I know kids can do things behind parents' backs. As a teacher of 32 six-year old students, I am aware of the mental toll it takes to be aware of each child.My friend, Mallory has a sister who had a child call 911 when she was busy teaching.
This dad had one child. In his cart. One child, stuffing ping-pong size dried apricots in her face. I mean, come on people, we aren't talking about mini m &m's here.
Also, who hasn't 'opened' something before the check-out line to snack on it before it was bought? Even if you haven't, you've probably seen other people who have. This little girl opened the snack, and put it back. I have a feeling they weren't going to pay for those apricots...
And if that is true, then who should have been arrested for shoplifting?
It makes me mad when adults don't take full responsibility for their actions. The four year-old was stuck between two irresponsible adults---an overzealous security guard (poor guy probably hadn't seen this amount of action in years)--and an irresponsible father.
I'm gonna have to say... the adult is wrong. The Dad of the apricot-stuffing 4 year-old.
I have seen enough cases of adults acting un-adultlike instead of stepping up to be good examples.
Take a second instance: a girl I do not know on Facebook ( a friend of my cousin's), who is my Facebook friend. Last week she posted this as her status:
In the end, I didn't say anything. Eventually, enough moms were offended that she apparently decided to "cut back" on her habit this week.
Has anyone ever seen someone do something "un-adultlike" that effects a child? When is it okay to step in?
The little girl was made to write ,although she has yet to learn to read or write, her name down on a piece of paper to acknowledge that she understood the consequences of her action.
So how did it turn out?
The Safeway security guard was fired for berating the little girl.
Safeway apologized. Happy Ending.
You can find this story Here
Fine. I understand that the customer is always right. Obviously, this was a four-year old who didn't know any better. Four year-olds do weird things.
However.....
My first question is: where was her father in this whole deal? Apparently, his back was turned, in the sense that he never saw her eat the dried apricots.
Yeah, right.
Now, let me qualify all of this by saying that I know kids can do things behind parents' backs. As a teacher of 32 six-year old students, I am aware of the mental toll it takes to be aware of each child.My friend, Mallory has a sister who had a child call 911 when she was busy teaching.
This dad had one child. In his cart. One child, stuffing ping-pong size dried apricots in her face. I mean, come on people, we aren't talking about mini m &m's here.
Also, who hasn't 'opened' something before the check-out line to snack on it before it was bought? Even if you haven't, you've probably seen other people who have. This little girl opened the snack, and put it back. I have a feeling they weren't going to pay for those apricots...
And if that is true, then who should have been arrested for shoplifting?
It makes me mad when adults don't take full responsibility for their actions. The four year-old was stuck between two irresponsible adults---an overzealous security guard (poor guy probably hadn't seen this amount of action in years)--and an irresponsible father.
I'm gonna have to say... the adult is wrong. The Dad of the apricot-stuffing 4 year-old.
I have seen enough cases of adults acting un-adultlike instead of stepping up to be good examples.
Take a second instance: a girl I do not know on Facebook ( a friend of my cousin's), who is my Facebook friend. Last week she posted this as her status:
JUST CHAIN SMOKED A FULL PACK OF CIGARETTES. And I'm pregnant. And I got married at 19! Say one more word to me, maybe ill go drink a six pack too....and possibly drive without a seatbelt :)
I agonized over whether to say something to this girl on Facebook for days. I even looked up the effects of smoking, some of which include:- Lower the amount of oxygen available to you and your growing baby.
- Increase your baby's heart rate.
- Increase the chances of miscarriage and stillbirth.
- Increase the risk that your baby is born prematurely and/or born with low birth weight.
- Increase your baby's risk of developing respiratory (lung) problems.
In the end, I didn't say anything. Eventually, enough moms were offended that she apparently decided to "cut back" on her habit this week.
Has anyone ever seen someone do something "un-adultlike" that effects a child? When is it okay to step in?
In : Parenting