I was coming out of Costco today and walking through the parking lot toward my car. A mother and toddler got out of a car and the mother was looking at her phone. The toddler was running ahead of her probably 25-30 feet down the parking lot aisle. She just yelled at him to slow down, but continued to stare at her phone. I stopped and watched the toddler, making sure no cars were backing out because there was no way they would see him. That’s when I told her to put her phone away and pay attention to her kid. She didn’t like that and told me F off.
As a motorcycle rider, I am hyper sensitive to people who are staring at their phone rather than paying attention to the road. There have been numerous times where cars have encroached into my lane even though I ride a large orange motorcycle which is far easier to see. As a result I pay attention to all the drivers around me to see if they’re looking at their phones or the road.
I also grew up in the 60’s and 70’s where we did some crazy things as kids and still survived, but I don’t think a toddler has enough sense or visibility to avoid cars backing out of busy parking lots like Costco.
Absolutely NTA! 90% l leave people be when they have their noses buried in their phones. That is until someone else’s safety is affected. Especially if it’s a child’s. And truthfully, I would have probably said more than put your phone away.
NTA, but I doubt it did any good at all.
NTA, but it’s worth noting that yelling at negligent parents to control their children won’t usually work. They’ll just file you away as some random hardass who doesn’t understand them.
I think if I’d been in this situation myself, I might have approached it by loudly screaming, “Oh my God, there’s a toddler out here with no parents, someone call the cops before he gets hit!!” and then booking it over to the kid to hover protectively.
Mom will move real quick then.
Yes a good dramatic encouragement might help more than a correction.
NTA. These parents who are buried in their phones need a reality check. I see it all of the time at school pick up & drop off. Mostly mothers on their phones while they are driving there kids, who by the way are a lot of times not buckled in.
NTA. More people like this need called out.
NTA-and I am so tired of seeing people with their faces buried in their phones totally unaware of what is happening around them, including when they are driving.
NTA buuuut those kinds of people won’t bother to learn from it, just get mad at you. Best to just yell, there’s a toddler in the parking lot!
NTA. I don’t have kids but still don’t stare into my phone in a parking lot because I don’t want to get *myself* hit by a car.
NTA. My mom was hyper vigilant of us in parking lots from working at the ER, she saw too many kids who had been backed over, and that was before cell phones and SUVs. She may have been mad and embarrassed but hopefully she paid attention
NTA. You might have saved that poor kid’s life.
I was in an airport last weekend in a wheelchair, and I had to yell “ Look Up !” Constantly,
Because they would walk right into me. Very unnerving. People don’t care.
The mother was an asshole. She’s fortunate that someone was looking out for her kid because she certainly wasn’t.
NTA- she probably told you to F off cause she was embarrassed by her own behaviour. Misdirected anger.