Maybe A Lesson Learned At 10Box

School is back in session, you know. Which means I really need to get to town earlier, to avoid other people's kids. My regular cashiers at the Gas Station Chicken Store start their shift at 2:00. So that's a good target time, allowing me to miss the after-school rush, buses on the road, and the bus-waiters down by Mailbox Row.

Unfortunately, I have not yet altered my schedule. I've been relying on Farmer H to be home when I come back with groceries. So I found myself at 10Box on Monday, shortly after 5:00. It was crawling with kids! I suppose people had just gotten off work, and picked them up at an afterschool program. 

Before I was out of T-Hoe, a man, woman, two girls, and a boy parked on my right and piled out of a sedan. They were in high spirits, skipping along the sidewalk. It's good to be reunited at the end of a long day. The kids were all under 7. They weren't BAD, just really loud and full of energy. I seemed to encounter them on every aisle. The came right at me on the bread aisle. Cart down the middle with the boy in the seat, a girl on each side. Dad lagging behind. I was waiting for them to veer to one side or the other so I could get by. Just when the dad started pushing the cart, the mom told a girl to get out of the way, and then STEPPED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME to grab a jar of peanut butter. 

It's really hard for me to stop once I get moving. I had to pull my cart back to avoid hitting the mom. She stood there, made her choice, and then said, "Oh, sorry." Well. That's nice enough, but I'm pretty sure my annoyance was obvious.

Another group of high-spirited young 'uns had also entered the store right ahead of me. A mom and three daughters around 8-11. They got out of a large white SUV out in the main part of the parking lot. I know, because they were quite loud and boisterous. So I had looked that way while getting a cart/walker to push inside. I didn't want to be ahead of them, lest a rambunctious youngster topple me over.

I could hear this group throughout the store, but didn't see them again until the checkout. They were in another lane. It's a wonder that mom had any ears left, because those daughters were talking them off. Talking over each other. It was chaos. Even though they were really doing nothing wrong, it annoyed me.

I was at the lottery machine when the mom came back in with a tale of woe. She didn't have her keys.

"When we got here, we all got out, and I guess she (pointed to middle daughter) clicked the button and closed the door before I could reach back in and get my keys. Now I don't know what to do."

She had the new old lady wastebasket emptier, who wasn't about to do anything. She asked my checker what they should do. My checker called for a manager. Who asked if the mom had a type of door lock inside that could be grabbed with a bent coat hanger. She said she thought so. But asked if they could call somebody for her. I don't know why she couldn't call for herself, unless her phone was also in the car.

The manager and my checker said they COULD try to call the police, but it was unlikely that they would take the time to come try to break into a car, and they didn't want to bother them. But they got a coat hanger and gave it to the mom.

When I left the store, I could see that it was still chaos. Two of the girls were sitting on the hood of the large SUV, and the other was walking around on the running board. The mom was trying to use the coat hanger. Lucky for her, a man got out of a car, and while walking by asked if they had everything under control. NO! There was no control at all!!! He went over and took the coat hanger as I was loading my groceries.

People need to teach their kids how to behave in a store. Neither of these families were setting a good example. Maybe Lost Keys will think twice about controlling her brood next time. But from their actions while waiting to get unlocked, I don't think that will happen.