Oblivious

Today I was working at the mall Customer Service desk when an associate from a nearby woman's clothing store came to me with a question.  There was a group of four unsupervised young boys (she guessed they were about 10 years old) running in and out of the store and causing a disturbance.  What should she do?  (This store has two doors, one I can see from the desk and one I can't.  The brouhaha was at the far door.)

I said if I was her I'd call Security and let them handle it.  She went back to her store and I watched to see what happened next.  Several minutes later a gruff-looking older female security officer arrived and disappeared into the store.  She's relatively new to the job and I haven't had a chance to talk with her yet, but it seemed like she'd be the perfect choice to take care of a group on unruly kids. 

Shortly afterwards a cute toddler with floppy blond pigtails scurried past the desk.  When I see a young child on their own I always check to make sure there's an adult somewhere nearby. This time I didn't see anyone, but as I was stepping out from behind the desk I heard a female voice yelling "STOP".  I looked to my left and saw a woman one storefront down, nonchalantly walking my way.  I verified it was the mother of the toddler, then went back to my post.

Three minutes later the mother and daughter reappeared.  She said the group of boys she'd had with her at the food court had disappeared; could I call Security?  I put two and two together and told her where she might find her boys.  (At this point it had been about ten minutes since the security guard arrived.)  She took her daughter and disappeared into the store; I didn't see her again, but I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when the officer talked with her.

Five years ago today: Lyrical