So much for that learning opportunity

Yesterday a man came into the store where I work with his young (3 or 4) son. While the man was talking to me, the kid grabbed one of the ten-cent suckers, pulled the wrapper off, threw the wrapper on the floor, and stuck the sucker in his mouth.

Now, this would be a perfect opportunity for a parent to tell his child, in no uncertain terms, that you don't open items in a store, that you don't litter, that you don't steal, and that you never ever open up something in a drug store and put it in your mouth unless a parent tells you it's safe to eat.

Did the man tell the kid any of these things? Nope. He chuckled (Oh, they're so cute when they steal) then he asked how much the sucker cost. To his credit, he at least picked up the wrapper, but he should have made the kid clean up his own mess.

After he left, one of my coworkers who has two kids the same age said, "If my kids did that I'd be kickin' their ass." (figuratively of course). You're never too young to be told stealing is wrong and littering isn't cute.