On Saturday, we took a little trip to Toys r’ Us to get some of Carter’s birthday presents, and to put his bike on hold. While we were standing at the Customer Service desk, a man walked in with one of those massive baby bouncers – the ones that are like 3 feet wide, with every conceivable toy attached to it. He interrupted us and demanded to speak with a manager. First wrong move – wait your turn, jerk. So instead of creating a scene with this guy (he does that on his own a little later, don’t you worry), we move aside and let him begin his story with the Customer Service lady. He attempts to explain, in a remotely polite manner, that he has had this bouncer for quite some time, doesn’t have the receipt, but would like to either return it for something else, or get his money back as he deems it unsafe for his child. The Customer Service gal politely explains to him that the time for him to return the item has now expired, and without a receipt, they cannot issue a refund. The man’s face starts to go red and I can tell this is going to escalate into a real issue. He explains his situation again, insisting that this bouncer is not safe for his child – that pieces continually get pulled off (um, what child doesn’t destroy their toys?), and that he’s not mad at the Customer Service gal, he just wants some “justice”. At this point, the manager has arrived and attempts to calm down the situation. The manager explains, word for word, what the customer service gal had previously explained. Let me tell you, this did NOT go over well with the man. He finally said “you know what, nevermind! Clearly this isn’t going to get me anywhere.” And he storms off. So everyone is basically standing there staring at each other, wondering if this really just happened, when the man turns around and says “you know what, on second thought, YOU keep this piece of shit” and he literally hurls the bouncer back into the store….where it bounces (ha ha) and skids for several feet before slamming into a display rack. I raised an eyebrow and told the guy “well that was totally inappropriate” (Eric quickly hushed me), but the guy was too fired up to even hear anyone as he stormed out.
So I’m wondering, what is it that causes people to act this way, not only in public, but in a kids’ store with numerous families WITH children, standing around watching?! I get that he was mad about the product he had purchased – I’ve been there. But to stand there and literally chuck a bouncer back into the store? Sheesh! Either he needs some serious anger management, or he was just THAT desperate for his refunded money….possibly to go score his drug de jour?
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