Since when is it acceptable for children to make huge messes in a place of business. I honestly want to know the exact moment that retailers lost their backbone. Was it the McDonald's coffee lady? (What, my coffee's hot and could burn my crotch?!) I really am curious. Will it ever go back the other way? Will we be able to state what should be obvious and tell someone their behavior is inappropriate because what they're doing can more accurately be called vandalism or theft? If I went into a clothing store like, the Gap, I wouldn't put on some clothes and wear them around the store all day then take them off, leave them on the floor and let others walk all over them. That would be ridiculous. But replace "put on" with "read", "clothes" with "books", "wear" with "spread", and "take them off" with "not put them away" and you have exactly what happens every single day. UGH!
Why do we allow people to abuse our store and why aren't I allowed to tell someone they are damaging that book past the point of it being saleable without the fear of a higher-up coming down on me?
It isn't okay to break the spine of a book you haven't purchased.
It isn't okay to do the crossword in the NYTimes without buying the paper.
It isn't okay to slobber on a stuffed animal you have no intention of buying.
It isn't okay to take all the stickers out of a book and stick them on all the pages of the book.
It isn't okay to copy all the information on Hawaii, LSAT, how to bake bread, etc. out of the book and leave it strewn all over. Libraries are better equipped for that and you already pay for them through your taxes, so use them.
IT ISN'T OKAY TO LET YOUR KIDS DO ANY OF THE ABOVE, EITHER.
YOU HAD THEM, YOU NEED TO WATCH THEM!
(and I charge $12 an hour to babysit, so unless you wanna chip in on my hourly wage, I am not gonna watch your kid while you go shopping in the mall - yes, people do this. Are you one of them?)