So this morning was not one of my best mommy moments. After a full morning of running errands in Waterloo I let Emily out of the cart during checkout at Fareway. She was having fun poking through the box of Tootsie Pop suckers. Unfortunately, the cashier noticed Emily take a little tiny lick of the paper on the outside of one of the suckers while I was signing my credit card receipt. She came flying out from behind the counter to pick out the one she apparently thought was now permanently contaminated and basically demanded that I pay for it. In retrospect, that was probably the right thing to do, but when you have to dig $.14 out of your purse while a screaming toddler is wrapped around your ankles under the indignant glare of a grocery clerk, the first thoughts that come to your mind are not exactly logical or warm and fuzzy. I had to carry a screaming Emily out like a sack of potatoes and fumed half of the way home, thinking of all the snippy comments I could have made. Thankfully, I had kept my mouth shut, and by the time I got home my blood pressure was back to normal.
Out of curiosity, what is your opinion? Should I be obligated to purchase items of which my child licked the wrapper?
From your friend studying for the bar: parents are only vicariously liable for their children's intentional tortious acts if they had notice of their "dangerous" tendencies.....not sure if licking a lollipop is necessarily "dangerous"....Legally, you were probably not responsible. :-)
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