Just a quick post to add the latest video of Edzèa playing with Mackenzie while I babysat on Thursday. Also, I’ve attached below the letter to the editor that I wrote on Friday morning which is now becoming a story in the paper. They’ve assigned a reporter to cover it.
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Friday, Feb.20, 2009
Dear Editor,
This morning I headed out of my house on a very specific shopping trip to Centre Square mall. I brought my nine month-old daughter with me. She weighs twenty pounds now so I keep my fold-up airport stroller in the back of my car to cart her around in as I shop.
I was very specifically going to the Loony Loonies store at Centre Square mall to shop for a fancy dress for my daughters’ family photos on Sunday. I had already tried Walmart and Extra foods but couldn’t find anything appropriate for this occasion.
For two weeks, I had waited for a free morning to do this. We arrived at 9:30 am to find the store closed. No problem, we walked around for a short time and the owner showed up and entered the store. I thought he would take five minutes or so to get organized and open the doors. I really didn’t have anything else to shop for but I wandered through the top of the mall with my stroller waiting for the doors to open. After I knocked on the Loony Loonies store doors, the owner came out at 9:45am to tell me that he wouldn’t be opening for another ten minutes.
I wandered through Inspired looking at things while I waited. They were helpful and friendly.
When I arrived at the Loony Loonies store to shop , there were already a few other people in the store. I started to push my small stroller through the front aisle when the shop owner asked me to stop and to leave my stroller at the front. I told him that I’d rather not as my baby was nine months-old and not walking. I told him that I would have to carry her which was not convenient. He repeated that I would have to leave the stroller at the front. I’m unclear as to whether he expected me to leave the baby in it or not? He gave me no explanation as to why I was to leave the stroller at the front until I threatened to write a letter to the editor at the Yellowknifer.
I informed him that I was a teacher without a criminal record and that I was unclear about the issue with my stroller. He then said that the stroller would bump things off of the shelves.
I was quite visibly angry and feeling as though my rights/my child’s rights were being violated. I asked him for his name as I was planning on writing a letter to the editor at the Yellowknifer. He refused to give me his name or his business card and told me that it was a safety issue. He said that things would drop on to the baby in the stroller. I told him that I was a responsible adult and did not have that issue anywhere else that I shopped.
I am writing this letter to let you know that I am boycotting the Loony Loonies store in Yellowknife and would encourage others with babies to do so. If this man had attempted to give me some decent customer service and not argue with a potential customer in his store, I would have probably purchased one of his $39.99 dresses that we had been eyeing in the window. I also would have picked up some other things for my daughter’s upcoming 1st year birthday party. He has lost a customer and I am looking into filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.
Strollers are vehicles for people who cannot walk. Some children/people cannot walk at all, some cannot walk for long distances reliably. If Loony Loonies banned wheelchairs, I can only imagine the fight he’d have on his hands. What he has right now, is a fight with an angry parent who is not going to let this go.
Sincerely,
Monique Froehler
NWTTA Member in Good Standing
Angry Parent
