Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Chick-fil-A Safety Patrol

Bobby Brady, watch out, there is a new sheriff in town! The Chick-fil-A Safety Patrol! Apparently, in our small town Chick-fil-A, we now have a self-appointed “Chick-fil-A Play Area Safety Monitor”, CFAPASM for short (or not).
Here’s how it all went down:

M (my daughter) and I decide to go to Chick-fil-A (CFA) for lunch. Tuesday is our day to take it slow. No rushing out the door for pre-school or work. We can stay in our PJ’s all day if we want. Today, we decided to have lunch at CFA. Today was a flip-flop day. Rainy but warm. Warm enough for capris and flip-flops. We got our lunch, ate it and M went in the play area to play.

Me: Keep your flip-flops on b/c you don’t have any socks on.
M: OK

3 minutes elapse while M plays, then she come out of the play area, upset.

M: Mom, that girl in there says I have to take my shoes off and you told me to leave them on.
Me: Yes, I did and if she says something again, just tell here that you are doing what you mom told you to do.
M: OK

M returns to the play area and I can see a Mom saying some thing to M and M getting upset. The Mom gets up and I see her going to the manager and my maternal instincts kick in. This mom is going to report M to the manager for wearing plastic flip-flops in the play area! If this were the ice-age, I probably would have clubbed her. I can feel my blood boiling!

Here’s how that went down:

Me: (to the other Mom) Do you have a problem with my daughter?
Other Mom: She is wearing flip-flops in the play area and she is not supposed to.
Me: Then you come to me and discuss it and not the manager or my daughter!
Other Mom: Her flip-flops are a safety hazard.
Me: My daughter is doing exactly what I asked her to do and if you have a problem with that then you discuss it with me.
Other Mom: I don’t have to discuss it with you, it is an issue for the manager.

I am furious at this point, M is coming out of the play area b/c the manager said something to her and M is upset, again. So, the madness had to stop and my final words were “Just mind you own business”. I could have said worse. I felt like saying worse. I needed to be a good example for M. So, I stopped there and we got ice cream and talked. I wanted M to know the following:

  • I am glad she listened to me about her flip-flops.
  • I am glad she came to me instead of arguing with the girls and their mom.
  • I am glad that she was respectful to the store manager.
    And most importantly
  • I will stick up for her in any situation.
    The talk then turned to Webkins and all was well. Kids recover quickly. Especially when the band-aide is ice cream.

    It boils down to this: Don't mess with my kid! I know that the rules posted in the play area say that kids should remove their shoes. These were plastic flip-flops, not lethal combat boots. But if that Mom has nothing better to do with her time than to tattle on a 5-year old child who is wearing benign flip-flops in a play area, then she needs to get a hobby. Hmmm… maybe she should start stamping.