Am I the only one who doesn't get this?

ASmallWonder

This popped up in my FB news feed(maybe you've seen it).  It was written by a woman about her recent trip to Target and was posted on Target's page.  She was with a boy (presumably her son, age not given) and tried to go into the dressing room with him in tow. The  Target associate told him he couldn't go in and mother explained that he's autistic.  The associate said she knew, she had experience with autistic kids but that he couldn't go in and he could just sit out there and talk with her.

The shopper was just amazed at what an awesome woman this lady was for what she did.  I seem to be one of the only people based on the comments that wants to know WTF she didn't just let the kid go in?  Even if he was older (a teenager) he's going in with an adult and you've just been told he's autistic.  It's not like he's sneaking in there to catch a glimpse of some shopper's girly bits.

FezzesAreCool

I don't get it either.  I would be weirded out if a stranger offered to watch one of my kids. 

Also, I always went into the fitting rooms with my mom when I was little.  It wasn't a big deal. 

So I call shenanigans on the story. 

jess60

Yeah, it bothers me that he wasn't allowed in with her.  I wouldn't leave my kid with a stranger like that.

Swainb

Yeah I don't get it. 

ASmallWonder

Everyone is all "There are good people in the world!!" and "She's amazing!  You should call Target and tell them how nice she was!"  And I'm like "You should call Target and give them an earful about their stupid dressing room rules."

Manateearmz

My Target dressing room is for both men and women. I call bull. 

judahsmommy1

I think I would need to know the age of the boy. This particular scenario has way to many moving parts.

andyyougoonie

I would not leave my child with a stranger out of my view in Target or any public place.  What if that lady is crazy and takes off with your kid?  Uh, no.  If she can't go in with me, I don't need the clothes.

Libby1978

My 13 year old daughter goes in the dressing room with me at Target.  Does each Target have a different policy on this?

Libby1978

Manateearmz:

My Target dressing room is for both men and women. I call bull. 

This too.

kj07

Not nearly enough info - key pieces include the age of the boy, the setup of dressing rooms, the availability of family dressing rooms, the store's actual dressing room policy...

Just because a child is autistic doesn't mean he may not be aware of or have an interest in the differences between men and women.  And whether or not a child has special needs, another customer may be uncomfortable encountering an older child of the opposite sex in a single sex dressing room.

madamsmurfette

I wouldn't leave my child with a stranger, either.

Although, if the boy was over the age of about 5, as a fellow shopper, I wouldn't be comfortable with him in the dressing room, autistic or not. (My Target fitting rooms have rather small half doors. They only come up to about 5.5" feet off the ground and down to about knee height. If they had full doors, I wouldn't care that he was in there.)

kj07

Libby1978:

Manateearmz:

My Target dressing room is for both men and women. I call bull. 

This too.

Depends.  The Target by my work finished their renovation last month.  Prior to this they had a set of dressing rooms for women and a set for men.

MrsSR

I'm confused... the mom was trying to try on clothes and her son was with her... someone who works at Target said the son wasn't allowed in there with her, but the Target worker offered to stay outside with son and watch him while mom tries on clothes???

 

madamsmurfette

Libby1978:

My 13 year old daughter goes in the dressing room with me at Target.  Does each Target have a different policy on this?

I would think not letting him in wasn't because he wasn't the one trying on clothes, but because he was of the opposite gender.

CoffeeBeen

I'm with you - I thought the story was going to end with people pissed off that they wouldn't let the son in the changing room. 

I'm really curious about how old the kid is.  I bet the child in the story is older than DS, but I would be really uncomfortable leaving DS with a random target employee.