Tween Girlz is not just a store. It is a part time babysitting service as well. Moms often wander in with their kids, lead them to the toy bin with an overabundance of bouncy balls, whoopee cushions, and jars of goo, and slip out of the store, thinking we don’t notice that they have left their kids unattended. When we ask the little youngsters if we can help them find anything, they tell us they are supposed to wait in the store until their moms are finished shopping. The moms usually return in half an hour or so and pretend to browse the store for a few minutes, then leave with their kids. It’s not really annoying unless the kids decide to trash the store, which happens the majority of the time.
One night when I was working with two hours until closing time and a girl who looked about nine or ten years old walked in, grabbed a book, and sat down on the floor and started reading. We asked her if she needed help finding anything and she just shook her head. She sat there for half an hour, an hour, two hours, and it was time to close. We told her we were closing and asked if she needed to call someone to come get her. She shook her head and walked out of the store. When we walked out after closing 20 minutes later, she was nowhere to be found.
Tween Girlz also serves as an official babysitting service for one customer in particular. A mom and her two daughters are regulars in our store, and just recently became regular babysitting employers. Three employees at Tween Girlz have babysat the two girls and according to them, the girls are hell raisers. Every week, we get a call from the mom, asking if any of us can babysit. This is the part where we all cringe and run away. Thankfully, babysitting the customer's children isn’t in our job requirement, but some people think it is…
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