Marshalls

Ellie hates shoes. She takes them off when I put them on her. So I don't. I think a barefoot baby is just fine, so I haven't given it another thought. Until today, when I was shopping for socks and underwear at Marshall's. She was really angry at being in the cart, so I took her out so she could play with the socks while I looked for what I needed.

A saleslady walked by and said in a terse voice, "She needs shoes." And walked away.

So then I'm wondering, does she mean she needs shoes to be allowed in the store? Does no shirt, no shoes, no service apply to babies? Then I suddenly realize that she is looking at us thinking how sad it is that there are parents in this world who don't buy their kids what they need and the poor babies have to go without because of the stupid parents. And then the smoke starts pouring out of my ears and my face turns red with anger. I have now had three babies who hate shoes. I didn't put shoes on a single one of them as babies, and I think they have turned out just fine (well, most days anyway). If someone else feels the need to always have shoes on their baby, that's fine with me. But I don't need to have someone imposing that on me.

So when the saleslady returns, I say to her, "I guess that's your theory that she needs shoes. I don't think she does."

And she quickly corrected herself, saying, "No, I mean that there's a lot of pins on the floor that she could step on."

I immediately feel stupid and terrible for jumping to conclusions that she is criticizing my parenting. "Oh, I see. Sorry, I'll put her back in the cart."

Then the saleslady walks away and mumbles, "I would never let MY child be barefoot." My ears perk up and I say, "What was that you just said?" Eyebrows raised, tounge in cheek, she did not respond.

"You would never let YOUR child be barefoot?" I say. She looked at me and dared me to go on. I accepted the challenge. "I think I'll talk to your manager about this."

"Good. She'll probably say the same thing to you."

I talked to the manager, blah blah blah, this kind of treatment doesn't make me want to patronize this store (yes, this fine establishment with pins on the floor and clothes you need to dig through to find what you need). And then I told her I would like an apology from the offending employee.

What a bitch I am! Not for standing up for parents of barefooted babies everywhere, but for demanding an apology. I guess I went a little too far. Lesson learned: let the steam out a little at a time instead of all at once. And I realize how insane I am as I'm standing there with my purchases (because after spending 45 minutes picking out socks and underwear, I couldn't just leave it there. I had to buy it and then complain about how NEXT time I won't patronize this store). And so, as the manager was talking to the employee to try and get her to aplologize, I told the cashier there was somewhere I needed to be (a lie) and quietly made my exit.