Wal-Mart: More Than I Bargained For

Just a quick run into Wal-Mart to pick up a few items was all I planned. I had the Pie and her friend, Queen Bee with me. As we meandered down the midway aisle, I heard a most disturbing voice screaming, "Stop touching her! I will beat the hell out of you!" I peeked around the school supply display to see a woman with two small children in her shopping cart; they cowered and huddled. Shoppers and employees began to gather around as the woman's voice got louder and her threats became more serious. I stopped in my tracks, stunned at her behavior.

A young woman, a shopper, politely said, "Excuse me," and the Mean Woman (as I will now refer to her) turned on her heel and began hollering, "Leave me alone!" More and more people gathered around while Mean Woman continued to lose her mind. It reminded me of someone attempting to capture a wild animal. Her eyes bulged and she was quite jumpy, easily irritated.  We all watched in horror as she just kept screaming at those babies. I think we were all shocked that she would act in such a way in public! And then, it happened.

The little boy in the cart incidentally put his feet on his little sister and Mean Woman fell loose from herself. She reached into the back of the cart and blindly swatted, connecting several times with heads and faces. The surrounding people, all women by the way, rushed her and began admonishing her to calm down; one older lady tried to pull the cart away from Mean Woman. This did not set well with Mean Woman because she roughly shoved the cart away and bowed up on the lady. It was at this point, my arm went around the Pie and Queen Bee, ushering them behind greeting card display, and I

took my post in the fray.

Employees called for managers, shoppers threatened to call police and Mean Woman called to a couple of us to "bring it on!" I called to her that those children deserved better than her as a mother and she kept repeating that they were kids and she would do whatever she wanted with them or to them; there was nothing anyone could to her, she swore. Older Lady shocked me by saying she would take those babies right out of the cart if she had to. I thought, "you go, older lady!" Mean Woman chest bumped Older Lady to keep her away from the children and I stepped in. I got in her face and calmly explained that she was embarrassing herself and if she didn't want to find herself in jail, she needed to calm down and walk away. She obscenely invited me to engage in coitus with myself (if you get what I'm trying to say, here) and that was all I needed.

Without raising my voice, (too much) I said: "Okay, I get it. You are frustrated and scared. You might be at the end of your rope - what mother hasn't been?  But those babies are not your property - they are your responsibility. Is this how you want them to remember you?" She looked at the children and back at me. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew something hateful would spew out of her mouth. Managers gathered and interrupted what I thought was a productive moment and asked the woman to leave. Mean Woman stormed out in a cloud of vulgarity and obscenity, tossing the items already in her cart to the floor, children still looking confused and scared. I retrieved the Pie and Queen Bee from their hiding place and continued my shopping trip, the girls asking questions with every step. And that's when I began to quietly worry.

What happens when she gets those kids home, all to herself? Will she beat them and blame them for embarrassing her, when really she did it to herself? Will she scream curses at them, deny them food, physically abuse or neglect them. I have to wonder that if a mother would display such cruelty to children under the age of 3 in a public place, what stops her from doing worse in the privacy of her home? I am heartbroken and sick about this incident, and terrified that I might read about those cute children in a headline soon.