Any video cameras? Any bystanders with their phones? I am so infuriated by this! I want that mother publicly shamed, at the very least.

Right Prickly? I would love to know who she is just so I can tell her what a piece of crap she is.

I witnessed two unruly brats knock over an old layd recently in a Publix, myself. They had to be about 8 and 10. They were literally running up and down aisles, screaming at each other. One of them almost took a spill and I shot him a look that could have frozen water. He quickly scampered off but a few minutes later, they were at it again. This time they knocked into me. I exclaimed "REALLY!?" They both started mocking me at this point. Every time they ran by, they went "Really. Really. Really..." I started looking for the manager at this point. Before I could though, here they come again.
This time, the little one knocked into an old ladies cart and she nearly fell over, into the dsiplay. Another gentleman who was closer to her than I was managed to catch her before she toppled over. The kids just kept on going. I don't think they even realized what they'd done.
Now, I normally wouldn't condone what I did but I'd had it by now. The next time they came flying around the corner, I grabbed the little one (because he was closer) by the the back of his shirt and pulled him back to me and got in his face. I then said (in what I realize now likely sounded like the Excorsist, "Where. Is. Your. Mother?" The older one stopped in his tracks. I stared him down and said "Bring me to your mother. Now." I left my cart and followed them to their mom.

When I finally figured out who thier mom was, it all made sense. She was a typical "Boca" mom. Dressed in designer clothes. Hair and makeup done perfectly. Clearly had some work done. At her cart were two more children. One girl, one boy. The girl was still a baby and was in the cart. The other boy, maybe 5, was grabbing things off the shelves and throwing them on the floor. When she saw me approaching with her kids, she didn't even respond. Now, parents... if you see a total stranger with your kids to you and has one of them by the nape of the neck, that would ilicit SOME response, yes? Anger, humiliation, worry... something? I fully expected a confrontation. (Like a "How dare you touch my kids!" Or something...) She could have cared less. There was literally NO response from her. Realizing this was a losing battle, I let go of the kid and walked away. I didn't even finish shopping; I just go to the check out to get the hell outta dodge. Guess who's in the lane next to me? You betcha...and they were in prime form. This time, they were at the claw machine, bangining into each other and making a shit ton of noise about it. And they had now gotten the littlest one involved. ANd, I could hear the oldest one going "Oh Look. It's the lady. Really... really..." Mom of course said nothing. I immediately asked for the manager. Because this was my regular Publix, the manager recognized me. I told him what happened and recommended that his floor staff get more training on how to handle this in the future. His response was, "Yeah, I saw them on the camera." I responded with, "And yet, you did nothing? Never mind that these kids ruined my grocery shopping trip today... You realize the lawsuit you might still have on your hands if that woman has been injured? Or worse yet, if that kid had cracked his head open and their mom had sued YOU?" I guess THAT'S when the realization occured to him to be more proactive.. the potential lawsuit. He apologized, turned beet red and I left.

I actually don't shop at that Publix much anymore. I go to Fresh Market now. The Fresh Market I go to has NO tolerance for that.

AAAANd spellcheck will be mandatory for me next time I post without at least three cups of coffee in my system.

Wish I could say that I'm shocked; but, the truth is I'm not.

There are far too many folks like this out there. I once caught a kid stealing/eating some cookies while in the grocery store. I pointed it out to an employee who told the mother - she defended the kid!

The store employee's response was priceless: "lady get control of your kid now before he is stealing cars when he is a teenager."

That embarrassed the shit out of her!

Sabrina,

I rarely comment on here because it is such a time suck that I can hardly afford. But I just had to respond to your post. I live in Broward County and the level of incivility in this country is staggering to us. By this country, I mean "South Florida." The entitled, "pushy-shovey me-me-me third world grab all you can right now and screw the other guy" level of rudeness down here has made this the most miserable place we have ever lived, and as career military, we've lived a lot of places.
We never go to Publix, we ,learned that quickly after a couple of experiences like yours. We sufferedt through a couple of post apocalyptic Wal Marts until we found two that are somewhat civilized most of the time.

An anecdote - when I first received orders to South Florida, our youngest daughter was almost hysterical because her teacher had told her South Florida would soon be underwater because...Global Warming. Or Patriarchy. Or...something.
We have since decided that even if there were something to AGW (not that we believe for a moment there is), South Florida would never be consumed by the ocean. The ocean would have sense enough to spit it back out.

God, I wish I could have been there. I would whipped out the cellphone and photographed that sick woman. I would have chased her and her recalcitrant brat out to their car and photographed the license plate.

An understandable sentiment, Patrick. But down here, that kind of shit is par for the course. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle, what can I say about South Florida, that hasn't already been said...about Afghanistan.
I've been there too. The comparison almost makes me weep.

Wolfman, I find that no matter where I go, the level of uncivil behaviour lately is incredible. People are just ruder now it seems. But you are correct about South Florida... something about the tri-county area has become almost... un-natural. I REFUSE to set foot in Wal-Mart... refuse. I'm in West Boca and even though ours in Delray is considere the "nice" one, I still won't do it. Even the Boca Town Center Mall, which is very high end, seems to attract some 'interesting' people.

Miami is the WORST. I avoid it at all costs if I can. Any city that is awarded "rudest drivers in America" 5 years and a row is not a city I want to be driving in.

Sabrina,

No question people are just ruder nowadays. Don't disagree at all. It just seems to me that when I look back on other places I have lived, rude people acting rudely was called...rude people acting rudely. Down here, it seems to be taken as a matter of course. Its called normal people acting normally. Or at least regarded as such. Thats what I find most offensive.
And the driving in Miami? Oh my god. I have to drive into that godforsaken hellhole every day of my life. My 20 mile commute is regularly 45 minutes to an hour of feeling like an extra in a Road Warrior movie. I envy anyone who has the option of staying out of there.

If you guys think the story is bad, check out the comments. There are people actually defending this woman. Unbelievable! I couldn't read too many bc they were so annoying.

I saw a kid this summer (age 7ish or so, I'd guess) zooming up and down my local NYC grocery store on a scooter. I do not mean that he was slowly inching along by his mom's side as she shopped. I mean his mom was somewhere shopping and the kid was treating the aisles as a playground. Those of you who've seen how very narrow NYC grocery aisles tend to be -- about half the width of a typical suburban grocery store -- will appreciate how dangerous this could be.

The manager came over and put a stop to it. The mom had a fit, abandoned her shopping cart, and stalked out of the store with her kid.

Poor dear. It will take her weeks to restore her darling pumpkin's self-esteem and creativity after he was thwarted so dreadfully.

Gail...I've shopped in those stores. The kid was on a scooter!? *shudder*

Wolfman... I only go down there when I have to go for an audition or a show I'm seeing. Otherwise, I avoid it like the plague. I always feel like I've already won the part when I make it back home again safe and sound.

You have my deepest sympathy and utmost respect for doing that commute every day.

I have seen horrible behavior like this in grocery stores however I primarily have seen it in restaurants. I am sure we have all seen the "heely" shoes. They are those horrible athletic looking shoes with a wheel in the back so children can skate and walk... I see children whizzing by at malls, grocery stores, and yes restaurants. I once when I was waiting tables has fajita plate (for those of you unfamiliar a cast iron skilled that is literally still cooking the food) I was delivering to a table and a kid on "heelies" slammed in to me. I burned myself saving the child from being knocked in the head with a seering hot cast iron skillet. His dear mother started berating me for not watching where I was going. Thank god my manager intervened because after pulling the skillet off my arm along with some attached skin I was in no mood to politely educate this woman and her heathen.

Okay, I went to look at the comments and I had to laugh at this one. Of course, the injured woman should not do such a thing, but it was hilarious.

What she should do when she feels better is get herself one of those little rascal scooters and just run over all unsupervised kids.

I just read some of the comments and now I'm in a pissy mood. How can ANYONE defend this woman? I just.... I can't...

Sabrina, I'm guessing that the majority of those comments come from those entitled parents who think their decision to have children means that the rest of us must endure their bad behavior in stoic silence.

Sounds like the State of Florida - if not the entireD country - should be prescribed a "One Book" project: I SEE RUDE PEOPLE! Unfortunately, the Rude Ones are unlikely to recognize themselves...!

It's Santa Cruz. What did you expect?

Sabrina, sad story - and I can't believe how dumb managers can get. Maybe if a lot more customers complained the way you did, managers would worry more about losing THEIR business rather than worrying about losing MOTHERS' business.

BTW, I live near the so-called People's Republic of Cambridge; I go to various supermarkets, and the ONLY kids I see kicking, screaming, and trying to be destructive are those already strapped down in their carts. I.e., most parents there have the sense to communicate firmly to their kids that tantrums - in public at least - will not be tolerated after age three, AND that they will not be allowed to walk freely in crowded stores until they can control themselves.

Oh, and have we all seen THIS Belgian(?) commercial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh3hxMS42O0

I just think they should have picked a child actor under 4, but what do I know?

Otherwise, it's great. Too bad they'd NEVER make an identical commercial in the U.S.

Sabrina, Miami traffic was like that when I lived in S. Florida in the '80s. The one almost-serious car accident I've ever had in my life happened when I came around a blind curve on I-95 and found a car completely stopped in the next-to-leftmost lane; the driver was trying to cut across all of the lanes to make an exit ramp, instead of simply going a half-mile to the next exit.

I'm so glad I live in Tampa Bay, which is Central Florida, not South Florida.

I just don't understand this.

I have a 10 year old daughter, she is RIGOROUSLY drilled in proper conduct.

I took her to an 'Applebees' to gauge how well it was taking, when she needed something from the waitress she stood up and said, "Excuse me miss waittress, but can I have a refill please?" (Actually it was more 'pwease' but hey, cuteness)

Her younger sister still has a long way to go, but is improving also.

The idea of Fauve Solange just running hither and thither heedless of those around her is unthinkable to me, and also to she.

Both major anecdotes disgust me. And I thought well it is the area that they occurred in.

I'm in the Midwest and thought crap like that didn't happen much around here. But I don't do much in public unless I need to. So an hour after reading this stuff I ran over to the local Wal-Mart. The inner exit door was opening very slowly. So I see a woman that was wider than I am just jam her way through the door. Even her SO made a comment about her "breaking the door".

I just hope I die in the revolution or Capt. Trips finally appears.

Here's one awful comment I found on the Santa Cruz case - it may be from the HuffPost:

"The child did what children do. No parents can guaranty that their young ones will comply with rules for comportment 100 percent of the time.... And perhaps asking anyone old enough to break a hip to use a walker at all times would be another way to be absolutely sure accidents like this would not happen. As for the parent taking off? Well, I don't blame her. This comments here are evidence that she would likely have been punished for something that wasn't her fault and ended up paying out big time. As it is, the elderly woman was cared for. The only thing that the mother's departure did was hurt her feelings....."

SHEESH! I mean, somehow I doubt anyone would talk like that about a parent's obligation to pay for a neighbor's broken window, just because "no parents can guaranty that their young ones will comply with rules for comportment 100 percent of the time," so what the hell is the difference? I'd love to hear that person's answer.

Lenora,
That was the comment that got me too. Now all elderly people should walk with canes or walkers just parents are too ignorant to parent. Talk about blame shifting. These stories continue to amaze me.

Oh, and here's one from Bratfree:

Nightfire
"I can't stand the boo hooing about what if this moo was a single mother with a child, saying that she might be scared, poor and have little money, and that it might have been the reason why she ran. I say, WHO CARES IF YOU'RE POOR! I'm poor but it doesn't mean that I get to use my economic status to escape responsibility! This woman should have been punished, thus ensuring it doesn't happen next time!

"This stuff is the thing that makes me so mad, especially as it just seems folks let people like this get away with no punishment, just because they have a kid."

You know that age, a broken hip, she could have very easily sliced or crushed her femoral artery, or thrown a clot or a bit of marrow and wound up dead.

A few of my generally-not-unruly brats knocked matthew Mcconaughey over at the Austin airport 2 years ago. We were waiting for DH to come out, they hadn't seen him in 5 weeks and were VERY excited. He was nice about it. Maybe a little taken aback we didn't sact like he was anyone important-but in Austin we generally don't so maybe not.

But not even stop and help them up?? Criminal.

Did you notice?

No amount of medical care, no amount of punishment of anyone, no number of lawyers or letters of outrage to a grocery store owner will result in the lady who was knocked down being "un-injured". That will always have happened to her: part of her life stolen, the fear of medical procedures, the hours and hours of pain.

That is why prevention must be the goal of safety programs and laws that intend to prevent accidents, incidents, releases.

Sometimes, there is no "do over"!