February 7, 2011

This evening about 6:00 pm EST, my daughter and I were in Nutley NJ Shop Rite. We noticed a woman, with obvious bruises on her face, pushing a small child in a shopping cart. As we watched the woman, it became apparent that she was under the influence of some substance; she was swaying, staggering, and her reflexes were in slow motion. As she walked past us, we could smell alcohol on her breath. It was obvious that she was drunk.

Fearing that she planned to drive a car, we called 911. We gave a lengthy description of the woman and thankfully the dispatcher was very professional; a police officer was then dispatched. At this time, I also explained the situation to a clerk at the front end of Shop Rite and asked her to call 911 as well. She promised that she would call.

I went outside to see if I could stall this woman, which I was able to do in the front of the store. I struck up a conversation with her and spoke with her little boy, Anthony, who is 2 ½ years old. When the subject of her facial bruises came up, she stated that she had been beaten by her ex. At this time, my 22 year-old daughter was checking with the front desk workers to make sure they actually called 911. (Call us crazy--we simply couldn’t allow this woman to leave and possibly get in a car with this innocent child or wonder how he would be taken care of that evening.) The front-end people in Shop Rite were not only rude to my daughter, but stated this about the situation: “It’s not our responsibility or our problem to deal with. We’ve been dealing with this for a while. Let it go. She’s in here all the time. Go back to shopping.”

A police officer did arrive eventually and it seemed as though this woman was known to him. She was not driving, as we feared, but rather, she was walking to Hillside Avenue. The police officer offered her a ride home, which she gladly accepted.

I suppose that the Shop Rite workers should feel righteous and smug. The woman was not driving home as we feared, so what was the harm? Two silly women from Clifton NJ made a big deal out of nothing. All’s well that ends well, right? Not exactly. The woman was given a ride home by the police officer and heaven knows how or if she was able to take care of Anthony that evening. And, the only reason that police officer arrived was because we made the effort to call!

Responsibility is a tricky thing. What if a customer has a heart attack in Shop Rite? Is it Shop Rite’s responsibility to call 911 to get aid for this person, so that his or her life might be saved? Or, is the 911 call just made to cover Shop Rite’s bases in the event of a lawsuit? It would seem to me that Shop Rite had an obligation to this woman and her child. I guess that since this responsibility was not a legal one, it was easy to choose to do nothing.

I’m sure this letter will fall on deaf ears. After all, if this situation didn’t put Shop Rite in a bad legal situation, why bother doing anything about it? However, the rudeness of the front-end staff was really appalling, although it didn't come close to their uncaring and aloof attitude.