Angered over discussion with boss, store employee quits
By Pauline Lupercio
Staff Writer

Heather Pebbles believed she was doing the right thing when she called police on Jan. 8 after discovering a two-month old baby left alone in a vehicle in the Northville township Babies “R” Us parking lot.

But even though she was right in her action, Pebbles was told her response caused an unpleasant experience for the customer involved.

There are some things I don't think I'll ever really understand.  One is parents who seem to think that caring for their children should somehow always be a matter of convenience, another is businessmen (and women) who put profits above basic human decency.

According to a report published in the Detroit Free Press, the mother says she left the child in the car because the 10-week-old infant was "too heavy" to carry while shopping.  If that's the case, then wouldn't it be wiser to have a family member or baby sitter watch the child while the mother is out shopping than bring the kid along and leave it in the car (regardless of the weather) while the mother goes about her business? 

If there isn't another family member who can watch the child, or she doesn't want to pay a babysitter, then she pretty much has to take the kid with her.  But a bit part of being a parent is to make sure your child is watched and cared for, and if the child is heavier than you want to be toting around, but isn't yet old enough to walk, that's really just your tough luck.  Stollers are one viable way around that, and there are plenty of harnesses, slings, front and/or back packs and other devices designed to help make toting a small child around easier, but easy or not, there's no excuse for just leaving a child in the car.

In this particular case, the most immediate danger to the child in the car was the cold weather - it was 9 degrees out at the time.  But there are always other dangers as well.  Children have been snatched out of cars, and in a parking lot there's always the risk of one car running into another.  Then there's also the fact that the child is, in all likelihood well aware of the fact that it is all alone, and that is something that can be extremely frightening for a young baby who has yet to understand much of anything.

As for the reaction of the store, the assistant manager's concern is obviously misplaced. Sure, the mother may have had a "negative shopping experience", but I can't imagine too many people, upon hearing why she felt the experience was negative, would consider the store to have been out-of-line in calling the police to help make sure that the child was taken care of.

Unfortunately, there are many managers who feel that profits are all that matters, and that the best way to increase profits is to retain current customers while attracting new ones.  With the economy in as bad of shape as it currently is, sometimes the drive to retain customers and to avoid turning off potential new customers is given a higher priority than it should ever warrant.  Placing profitabiltiy above human safety is never appropriate, and managers that are that myopic should probably look for a new line of work.

One bit of good news in this mess is that, at the corporate level, at least, the employee's actions were considered to be appropriate:

Susan McGlaughlin, director of public relations for Toys “R” Us, Inc., the parent company of Babies “R” Us, said that Pebbles’ decision to contact police was supported.

“We firmly believe that calling the police was the right thing to do.” said McGlaughlin, who would not elaborate on the exchange between Pebbles and the assistant manager.

It is unknown at this time what, if anything, will be said or done in regards to the assistant manager who repremanded Ms. Pebbles, or if Ms. Pebbles will get her job back, but it's good to see that the company, as a whole, actually has their priorities straight.