Some things just don't go together. One of those combinations being little girls and liquor stores! That should go without saying! But not in Hillmomba, I suppose! So I'm saying.
Last week I stubbornly refused to go into the Liquor Store for my scratchers. I really wanted to buy them there. I was even on the parking lot, in a less-than-advantageous parking space, because the one on the end, up against the building, was taken. Probably by somebody inside playing the fake slot machines. The car had been there for a while, during my time at the Gas Station Chicken Store.
Anyhoo... I was preparing to start the walk across the parking lot when I saw that little girl standing at the door. She was probably 12-13 years old. Having spent my working life in the public schools, I can pretty much gauge the age of kiddos. She did not have that gangly look of all knees-and-elbows that they get around 8th grade, or 14.
The LG stood with her back holding open the glass door, allowing people to walk in and out. So they were very close to her when passing. Making the act of declining her wares more difficult, I would think. She had a white box on her forearms, with low sides. Looked like she might be selling those overpriced candy bars for a school fundraiser. Nothing wrong with kids wanting to succeed, getting out on their own to hawk the wares, rather than having a parent take them to work. But these days, you can't be too careful. Young 'uns need to be safe.
Sure, the Liquor Store is a public place. It's actually a "smoke shop," which sells cigarettes and vapes, and has three aisles and two wall coolers full of liquor. I've always been suspicious of back-room activities there, just because the number of cars in the lot don't match the number of people I see inside. Anyhoo... it's a regular business, part of a chain. It just seems to have a less-than-savory clientele. Like ME, for instance!
Anyhoo... I suppose the LG was related to one of the workers inside. At least I HOPE SO! Otherwise it was very, very wrong for her to be hanging out there. I did not want to go in. I didn't want a candy bar, and I didn't want to have to refuse to buy one. As I was looking around, trying to get T-Hoe off the lot, between the long line at the drive-thru window, and the cut-through maniacs dodging the stoplight... I saw the LG leave the doorway and walk down to the line of cars waiting for the window!
THAT IS WRONG! There are no windows in the front of the building. Just the door. You can't see the line of cars from behind the counter. You can't see the line of cars from the drive-up window. NOBODY inside could see that LG as she was going from car to car. Somebody could have snatched her! Just jumped out of the car, or dragged her inside, and took off! The highway is one block away! Once through the stoplight, they would be long gone down the interstate, able to turn off at any town, or reverse direction. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack even IF somebody got the license number and called 911 immediately.
It still bothers me that somebody let that Little Girl sell stuff outside the Liquor Store.
4 comments:
That does seem like a very bad situation and I wonder if her parents knew where she was selling. Perhaps she had been at GSCS and seeing more people at the Liquor Store decided to try there. But at that age she should know better.
River,
I think she must be related to somebody working there. I doubt they knew she was walking along the waiting cars. Probably thought she was standing at the door.
People in small towns have a false sense of security. Like weekend campers who would enter the park and then turn their kids loose. Close proximity to the interstate made me a little n nervous when my grandson would visit. I always made sure he was in my line of sight. I remember one couple tent camping one weekday. My husband went out to backwash the pool and saw a two-year-old wading in the shallow end. No adults in sight. The older sibling who looked to be about 4 was on the playground equipment. Turns out the parents were in the tent asleep and got upset at being awakened. Not everyone should procreate ....
Kathy,
I agree. It's too much to expect people to consider whether it's safe for a naive little girl to hang out where drinkers and slot players and vapers congregate. Where they sell T-shirts with logos like "The Devil's Lettuce." It's not quite the equivalent of a Chucky Cheese. I'm sometimes shocked that they allow me to enter, without a visible tattoo...
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