I work at Walmart in security, and let me tell you, I've seen worse...
I've seen children in the dead of winter in t-shirts. The decent parents at least steal a coat for them, but many of them just wrap them in a blanket and go.

I've seen parents let their kids do all sorts of extremely unsafe things. My favorite is when they let their kid ride on the very bottom of the cart. They *always either get their fingers or their hair pinched in the cart wheels. And it's *always Walmart's fault when they file the accident claim.

I've seen parents help their kids to climb on the shelves. I've seen infants left in hot cars outside while their single momma shops. I also see a fair amount of kids that are used as disguises or aids to help the parents steal. Just wait till they grow up... I'll be waiting.

Worst of all is the parents who shouldn't be parents. There is this one 40-something couple in particular that comes in nearly every day to purchase food stamp items. They are heavy set, and are too lazy to walk (though they are *completely able, I've seen them do it) so they get TWO electric scooters, one for each of them. The little boy, who is probably 5, is SCREAMED at the entire time they're in the store. They start by letting him go to the restroom, and of course, they don't get up to go help him. Instead, they wait about a minute after he goes in, then open the main door to the restroom and scream at him to hurry up. Then while in the store, they scream at him for everything from touching things to not walking in a straight line. Poor kid can't do anything right according to them. The boy is not mis-behaved (believe me, some are and deserve the commands), and I truely feel sorry for him.

And it always seems to be worse around the 1st and 15th of the month... You can tell who has kids because they love kids and who has kids for the tax benefits. It's really sad...