Pret worker searches for 'hero' mum who didn't give in to her child's cookie demands
Both customers and staff were impressed as she removed her 'misbehaving' kids from the cafe...
A mum is being called a ‘hero’ after ‘marching’ her children out of her local Pret A Manger – after they started screaming when she refused to buy them a cookie.
Customers and staff praised her steely resolve not to be shaken down for a sweet treat by her 2 little ones, and for sticking to her guns when she said they were leaving.
Now, Pret worker Jo Constable is now trying to track her down – in order to offer her a coffee and a cake, on the house…
In an open letter, posted to Facebook and shared by the Bristol Post, Jo wrote:
“Today (Friday 14th July 2017) you came into Pret at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol - where I work. You queued up ready to order but before you could get served your two children started to misbehave.
“They were loud, and inevitably it caught the attention of myself and other people. After fair warning to your children, with no let up from them, you announced to them that it was time to leave.
“I believe the line you used was ‘I will not spend money on children who are misbehaving.’ After much protest from the kids you managed to leave the shop and I can imagine you had somewhat of a lively trip home.
“I can imagine that you felt embarrassed that they had ‘caused a scene’. I can imagine that you may have thought any onlookers were judging you, or rolling their eyes, or tutting, or saying that good old classic ‘control your kids’.
“This I can only speculate on, as I don’t know you. What I do know, however, is that once you left there was a conversation between six people, customers included, regarding your parenting abilities.
“Maybe this mortifies you, but let me tell you the conversation was all about how in awe we were of you, and how you handled the situation.
“You were calm when the kids weren’t. You were fair when the kids were pushing boundaries. You are my hero.
“All parents have been in this situation. All children have acted up in public. Maybe there are people who judge, but let me tell you that none of that happened today.
"Maybe it would have been easier to get the cookie that was being screamed for, but you stood your ground and followed through on the warning that you would all leave if their behaviour didn’t improve.
“I couldn’t tell if you were embarrassed when you left, but I really hope you were holding your head high, as you championed in a difficult situation and I applaud you.
“When you get a chance we hope you will return to Pret at Cribbs. When you get here, we will serve you the (well deserved) coffee that you didn’t get a chance to enjoy and a cake to go with it, and the cost is on us.”
Our thoughts
Now, we don’t know how loud the kids were when they were denied a chocolate chip fix, but we can only assume that they were basically shouting the shop down – since Jo says they were ‘misbehaving’ and capturing the attention of a lot of people.
Regardless, we’re SO glad that instead of judging her for this not-ideal incident at the coffee shop, fellow patrons were actually being supportive of the mum.
That's what we like to see ?
Team MFM know all too well just how much easier it would’ve been to throw out a ‘sshh’ and purchase a couple of cookies to keep the peace while out in public, so we’ve gotta tip our hats to this mum for sticking to her guns.
We hope Jo and the Pret team find this mum through the power of social media – and that the mum appreciates the shoutout.
What do you think?
Share your thoughts on the open letter by commenting below, or reaching out on Facebook
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