Offended by sign on door of LYS

[NeedSleep]

I went to the LYS the other day and was surprised by a sign on their door. It was handwritten and said "It's cold and flu season, if your child is sick, please come back another day"

 

Huh? Are you kidding? Do adults not come in their store with cold and flus and pet the yarn and hand over money with germs all over it?

Why single out children?

 

Why say it at all?? Aren't germs just something you deal with if you are in retail?

 

Although my son who was with me was not sick, I sure didn't feel welcome after reading that sign. The fact that it singled out children made me feel like they have a problem with them in general or they would have said "We would appreciate that any sick customers come back another day".

 

 

The whole thing just bugged me.

[Amy]

Actually, I'm always amazed by the people who will take their sick children out shopping with them. I think if adults visited the shop while sick, they at least would make the effort to clean and dry their hands before touching all the yarn. Little children, on the other hand, are very likely to touch the yarn right after they've smeared their hands all over their runny nose, or coughed or sneezed into their hands, etc.

 

I'm sure the store wouldn't post this unless they had a huge problem with children causing damage to their yarn, making it unsaleable.

 

Yes, germs are something you deal with in retail. But the store owner shouldn't have to deal with sick children damaging her merchandise.

[Addey]

The sign would have made me grumpy as well. I, too, am amazed by people who take their sick children out shopping, unless it's to the drugstore or grocery store because they're on the way to/from the doctor's or getting meds, etc. I know I wouldn't want to be dragging a sick, complaining kiddo through any store I didn't have to!

I can see their point, though. I might have worded the sign a bit differently, but yeah, it's an issue. It could be that the owner has a child/family member of their own who, for whatever reason, is much more higly suceptable to colds/flus and wants to try and minimize exposure while still keeping the store open and money coming in. Maybe I'd have a station inside the door with a bottle of hand sanatizer with a sign politley suggesting using it before 'petting'.

*shrug* It would have made me grumpy, but I see their point.

[jleinhauser]

I'm on the side of the store owner. People are very thoughtless about avoiding public places when they are contagious. Yes, sometimes it can be avoided. But usually not.

 

Kids get these winter illnesses a lot more than do adults. They also touch more things, sneeze without covering their mouths, etc.

 

I don't blame the shop owner at all. I think she was smart to put this warning up for parents who lack common sense. You're not one of

them, your child was healthy. But I'm sure it made a lot of mothers think.

 

Jean Leinhauser

[Kolkri]

I wish people did stay home when they are sick.

I have a low immune system due to a liver transplant and I very seldom go to church and avoid other public places cause people think it is ok to risk others health by going out in public when they can make others sick.

I understand the need to run to the drug store but other then that stay at home get well faster and not spread it around.

[chrissyf]

I work in a doctor's office as a medical asssitant, this time of year EVERYONE is sick. Yes children tend to not be carefu of the "rules"...cover your cough and wash your ahnds but adults can be even worse. I can see the owners point of view though. We have a sign in our waiting room that states if you or your child have a cough please put on a mask to protect others. Many people are offended by it but it is important to be considerate of others.. you never know who could die from a "simple" cold.

[01buckler15]

I see the store owner's point of view. However, I think they should have worded it towards everyone, not just children. I have been guilty of taking my son out like that. But not if he is coughing and/or not feeling well. I am in and out of there in a flash and I hold him so he doesn't get anything! It's to a place like the grocery store or the pharmacy though. I don't look around and brows. I've seen parents in places like JCPenney or Sears with REALLY sick children. Makes me feel bad for the kids. Let them be at home where they can get the rest they need to feel better!

[Nichole]

I can see how youd be offended.

But if you look at it from a different point of view, it makes sense. My smallest son gets full blown scarlet fever from the strep bug. So, I appreciate when people keep their sick kids at home.

[NeedSleep]

Don't get me wrong, I see why they want sick kids at home. I'm a bit of a germaphobe myself, so I totally understand the desire.

 

It's the sign on the front door of a public retail store. It's not friendly. It assumes that people often drag their sick kids out to go yarn shopping. Ok, I'm sure they've seen it happen, but could it be so much of a problem that it requires a sign??

 

It's not welcoming and sets a tone, ya know?

[donnalynn2]

I can see your point. If I were you and I had my HEALTHY child with me, I would personally feel like I were being watched while in the store to make sure my child wasn't sick, but I can see the store owner's position too. Sounds like it coulda been worded differently.

 

IMO it seems like so many people just don't know how to STAY HOME when they are sick! A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers was really sick and was coughing and wheezing and such and several of us asked her why she didn't stay home and she said that she didn't want to use her time. Ummm, isn't that why you have sick time?

 

In fact, our work has gotten so crazy about the cold and flu season they have started putting up reminders to wash our hands frequently and do's and do nots in the workplace for when you sneeze, cough and such on the break room tv monitors and such. In fact, they have warned all of us that if we are caught sneezing or coughing either into our hands or the air that we may be forced to wear a mask! LOL I always thought it was polite to cover your mouth when coughing but not where I work. They want you to use the upper part of your arm to mask germs. Brilliant...

 

Oh well, seems like where ever you go, someone has a weird idea about this stuff, huh? Sorry you felt singled out. I would have too...

[Elle]

Actually, I'm always amazed by the people who will take their sick children out shopping with them. I think if adults visited the shop while sick, they at least would make the effort to clean and dry their hands before touching all the yarn. Little children, on the other hand, are very likely to touch the yarn right after they've smeared their hands all over their runny nose, or coughed or sneezed into their hands, etc.

 

I'm sure the store wouldn't post this unless they had a huge problem with children causing damage to their yarn, making it unsaleable.

 

Yes, germs are something you deal with in retail. But the store owner shouldn't have to deal with sick children damaging her merchandise.

 

After something I saw in WalMart last week, I couldn't agree more! We were shopping, just browsing around, and I was looking at women's clothes. A woman was shopping, and she had a child with her who was, guessing, four or five years of age, and the child had an AWFUL cold, complete with a freely-running nose. I was completely appalled to see the child WIPE HER NOSE on a garment that was hanging on a rack. As she was in mid-wipe, I got the mother's attention and simply said "Umm..." and pointed at the child. The woman simply said to the child "You need to ask Mommy for a tissue when this happens" and went right on shopping. I found a sales clerk and pointed on the garment that the child had ruined because it didn't need to be hanging on the rack with a big smear of mucus across it, and when the clerk said something to the woman about it the woman shot back with "Oh come on! She's a BABY!!!" She then gathered her child and huffed her way out of the store. Was she offended? Probably. Do I care? Not at all. She should not have had a child in that condition out shopping in the first place, but since she chose to do it, she should have been keeping a very close eye on her, because I'm sure that if she did this in the store, she does similar things at home, so the mother should have been aware of her propensity for wiping her nose on the closest thing handy and should have prevented the occurrence. It was gross in the extreme! Nobody should have to handle merchandise that a sick child has, for all intents and purposes, defiled with some bodily substance because the mother was more interested in shopping than she was in her child.

 

Elle

[losingmymind2]

The upper part of the arm is better than the sleeve because the theory is only YOU will be putting your face or hands next to it, not someone else. I've seen Tim's nurse have to sneeze in the middle of a procedure or dressing change, (unexpectedly of course) and explain they were taught to use the shoulder, too if unsafe to step away from the patient.

[mythunderbird]

i agree with kathy, the upper part of the arm is the best. that way you don't cough in yout hand or sneeze then say shake hands with someone, i have a rule i don't shake hands with anyone anymore during cold/flu weather. is just niot a good thing. i know when i am sick i try and stay away from places. but sometimes is not avoidable. when your the only one who does the shopping or banking ect. you end uphaving to go out for stuff(unless throwing bodily fluidds up) but when i am sick and when my kids were sick we all stayed away from school ect.the thing with the anti germ cloths is that the germs soon become use to it and they dont work, i think sick people if at all possible should stay away from others if they are contagious stepping off my soap box now:D

[ErinLindsey]

I can see your point. If I were you and I had my HEALTHY child with me, I would personally feel like I were being watched while in the store to make sure my child wasn't sick, but I can see the store owner's position too. Sounds like it coulda been worded differently.

 

IMO it seems like so many people just don't know how to STAY HOME when they are sick! A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers was really sick and was coughing and wheezing and such and several of us asked her why she didn't stay home and she said that she didn't want to use her time. Ummm, isn't that why you have sick time?

 

In fact, our work has gotten so crazy about the cold and flu season they have started putting up reminders to wash our hands frequently and do's and do nots in the workplace for when you sneeze, cough and such on the break room tv monitors and such. In fact, they have warned all of us that if we are caught sneezing or coughing either into our hands or the air that we may be forced to wear a mask! LOL I always thought it was polite to cover your mouth when coughing but not where I work. They want you to use the upper part of your arm to mask germs. Brilliant...

 

Oh well, seems like where ever you go, someone has a weird idea about this stuff, huh? Sorry you felt singled out. I would have too...

 

I tend to sneeze into the inside of my t-shirt. I might get a soggy bra from that, but at least I dont sneeze into my hands, and it didnt go flying out into the room either.

[eurolyons]

Actually, I'm always amazed by the people who will take their sick children out shopping with them. I think if adults visited the shop while sick, they at least would make the effort to clean and dry their hands before touching all the yarn. Little children, on the other hand, are very likely to touch the yarn right after they've smeared their hands all over their runny nose, or coughed or sneezed into their hands, etc.

 

I'm sure the store wouldn't post this unless they had a huge problem with children causing damage to their yarn, making it unsaleable.

 

Yes, germs are something you deal with in retail. But the store owner shouldn't have to deal with sick children damaging her merchandise.

 

Amy, while what you write makes a lot of sense and is valid, the thing is, people will still shop with thier children, sick or not...and not all adults do pay attention when they are sick...a better sign would be, Dear Customer, if you or your child is sick with a cold or flu, please visit us another day.

 

To the original poster, there are signs in many retail places that I've seen that say something along the lines of, "Customers, please watch your children..." or words to that affect...some have used stronger language than that...and that's not in an LYS shop...if you were in a china shop would you be offended to see a similar sign as what I wrote? Maybe not considering the place would be full of breakables...or maybe you would never consider taking your child anywhere near such a shop until they were much older...

 

There's no right or wrong answer to the sign in the LYS shop you came across, but Amy has a point and you do too...

 

Another sign I could think of for the LYS would be DO NOT TOUCH THE YARN, ASK FOR ASSISTANCE FIRST...and how well would that go over? It could be far more offensive that the orginal sign...

[Amy]

Amy, while what you write makes a lot of sense and is valid, the thing is, people will still shop with thier children, sick or not...and not all adults do pay attention when they are sick...a better sign would be, Dear Customer, if you or your child is sick with a cold or flu, please visit us another day.

 

I agree that adults don't always stay away from stores when they're sick. But sick adults are much less likely to be causing damage to merchandise, which is separate from the issue of spreading germs all over the store. Plus, the shop owner may be experiencing lots of complaints from customers who are upset about sick children visiting the shop, but has had few if any complaints about sick adults.

 

Just as some people are offended because adults weren't included in the original message, I bet there would be just as many people offended if adults WERE included in the original message.

 

A shop owner can never win when there is a need to place a notice like this. But the shop owner still needs to do something to mitigate damages that the business is receiving.

[PlaidKitty]

I would love to shop in that LYS.

 

It would be one of my favorite places.. I am very restricted in such things during cold and flu season due what seems to be a different society than I grew up in.

Sad such signs even need to be used. And wonder how this has happened to all of us ?

I feel so old....

 

To the OP.. I'm sorry your baby is ill. Hope all is better now. Perhaps you could trade some babysitting time with a friend ? That's how I used to work such problems , when young and lacking funds .

Take care of yourself too.. you don't want to get run down and get sick next.

 

-Pam L-

[shuttlebuggy]

Here's my theory - I am only stating it because I have actually SEEN a version of this it in action!

Mom's or parent's bring the kids or just the baby/toddler in a stroller in the LYS and of course because they are already sick - it goes hand in hand they are tired & cranky! But Mom (or Dad) may want to still look because they know they won't get back soon.

Well as child get's cranked up and more congestedly vocal - Mom or Dad and even possibly another sibling hands a skein of nice, soft yarn their way to soothe them...and amazingly all is quiet for a while - both as something to touch that's nice and as something to drool on or put near the running nose and swipe acrossed it! Fantastic for the family but once they are done - you guessed it- most times they don't offer to buy the skein but it is slipped back on the shelves - oooey, and gooey for an unsuspecting shopkeep or customer to find. And if it becomes dried on the whole thing wouldn't be noticed until someone went home with it or happened to inspect it at the register wondering what as on it by a visual or tactile "discovery" ----eeeeeeewwww!!!

Either way very gross and a loss for seller or buyer.

Amy is right - I think it is not the actual "childs" germs that are being questioned here but the actual "fallout" of body fluids that are usually not controlled by the very young - a sleeve or anything handy - a skein of yarn? does very nicely - and sometimes as I said a baby can just plain drool and teethe on it!

Personally a pacifier or something appropriate in that order would be a better choice - but some people grab whatever is around to keep the kiddos quieted down so they can have their time - and unfortunately a sick kid is sadly not a comfortable kid and they want their own bed!

She may have had that happen in her store and lost a few of her nice skeins or some kind of stock to that type of damage - that sounds more like the motive behind the "children" who are sick thing don't you think?

I am sure if you ask you will here the other side of her sign she didn't spell all the way out.

[Real Deal]

One time when I was in the grocery store, I was walking up to the butter and eggs section where 2 women and a boy (about 12 years old) were standing. Just as I began to reach for a carton of eggs, one of the women said loudly "Oh yes, my son and I just came from the doctor's, and we've both got strep throat!" Then she started hacking and turned her head directly at me and the egg cooler, instead of at the floor or toward the center of the aisle where there were no customers. I could hardly believe it!

 

I didn't even finish my movement toward the eggs. I pivoted on the spot back to my cart and swiveled that cart back around the direction I'd just come from as fast as I could. I could hardly believe the nerve of that woman! In the event she actually missed me with her germs, they must have spread to the food cooler.

 

I went to the check out immediately. I told them about her germ spreading at the cooler. I don't know if they went over it with lysol or something, or not.

 

In this instance, the boy was just standing there quietly, while the mother just kept yakking. I'm surprised the woman she was speaking to did not try to move her along.

 

At the time this happened, I had just gotten over bronchitis and pleurisy, and the last thing I needed was to catch strep throat. Now, I think I would have to speak up to someone who is obviously ill, and announces they have a communicable illness.

[Barbara]

Good for the shop owner!!! I'm sure he/she has a valid reason for putting up the sign, knowing it's bound to offend a few of their customers.

 

I'm about ready to have such a notice placed in our church bulletin. Parents bring sick children to my Sunday school class all the time....once even a girl with a raging fever.

 

Many people are so thoughtless in regards to others.

[NeedSleep]

See, for some reason, the "watch you children" signs don't bother me at all.

[cgd]

I too agree with the store owner. A parent has no business coming to a yarn store with a sick child. You go to the doctor, then the drug store, then home, then you stay there if humanly possible. Yes, I do have a son, so I too am a mother. A trip to the yarn store is hardly an emergency.

 

People have gotten the idea that they can do whatever they want without regard to others' rights. Yesterday I took my son to see a movie, and we have a radar for attracting the parent with the kids too small to be sitting through a 1 1/2 hour movie. This woman behind us had 2 kids, one about 1 and one about 2. All through the movie, they bumped our chairs, talked, squealed, and whatever. When my son was that age, we didn't take him to movies. Period. We rented and waited til he was old enough to sit through it. Even then we left a couple of them when he got restless so we wouldn't disturb the others. But many people now are only out for #1 and don't care--in fact, if you say something to them, you're being the bad guy or witch or whatever.

 

Respect, consideration, and manners have gone out the window. And the LYS owner's sign shouldn't have to be there--it should go without saying. Evidently they've had enough problems with it to warrant a sign. Yes, we live in a free society, but part of freedom is responsibility, and any "rights" you have end where someone else's begin.

[Debi Y]

A little while back I used to work at a Joanns and one day a young couple and their daughter came in - I'd say she was about 3 or 4. Well, the poor child was obviously very sick and she threw up all over the floor. Mom and Dad both told me that she'd been sick since the day before but I suppose Mom's fabric shopping held a higher priority than the comfort and well-being of their child. As a mother and a grandmother, I was upset that they could be that inconsiderate to their own daughter. And oh yes, I had to clean it up.

Debi Y.

[priscilla79]

I can understand the reason behind the sign. I've seen ones that say watch your kids,stuff like that but personally I think it could've been worded just a little better. I would not take my kids if they were sick to just go look/buy yarn but I have taken them w/ me when I get groceries and errands.Usually I just have my youngest w/ me since my older 2 are in school but when they're out I have all 3. I usually only once a week go to town, I can't stay home just because my kid(s) have a cold(or even me) but I also even when they are not sick try to keep them from touching things since I can't afford anything they might break or destroy. And sick or not I try to hurry when I'm out more so when I have all 3 kids w/ me, it's stressful enough having healthy kids when your shopping. I guess the saying is true there are two sides to every story. I hope for someone I didn't offend anyone.

[crazycrochet]

I have no problem with the sign, I might even comment on it to the sales clerks and tell them thank you. It helps to protect me, and I appreciatate that. If my son was sick, I was home pure and simple. There is nothing worse than a sick whinny child in a store. I even try to stay in when I have a cold, well unless I run out of yarn.