What were you thinking lady?

Have you been to the mall lately? I haven't... its honestly been a while. But since I was there last, it seems that the quantity of kiosks has grown significantly. As if with our depression....err, recession, small business owners have taken to the streets with their wares and ALL landed at the mall.

For the most part, I've got the whole process down smooth:
- Don't make eye contact
- Walk fast, especially if they are trying to make eye contact with you.
- A quick, "no thank you" if they actually try to stir up conversation

As we have been outfiting the new house, we have had to make a few trips to the mall recently. On one such trip Natalie was doing a good job listening and when the Fruit Smoothie woman offered her a little sample off of her tray I was actually thankful. Nat got a sweet treat, and I spent $0.

Fast forward one week. We're back at the mall. And since we had no appointments that day we strolled a bit through the mall. (That was mistake #1). Mistake #2 was thinking that these kiosk people had common sense. We meandered past a woman holding a sample tray of something. I honestly was doing really good at my "Don't make eye contact" and "walk fast" rules that I didn't care to notice. We were approached with some verbal cues, but both my mom and I both said "No thank you".

What happened next was incredible. My 3 year old daughter held her hand up...the woman handed her a sample cup and Natalie licked it thinking it was a smoothie. It was hand lotion.

I FUH-REAKED OUT and screamed Nooooooo!! (you know how low and slow it comes out in slow motion?) Then I tried wiping it off her tongue before she swallowed. The scowl on my face didn't do my emotions justice. Natalie thought my screaming fit was directed at her so she immediately burst into tears thinking she did something wrong. (Nothing a little FlaVorIce couldn't fix when we got home).

Dear Kiosk Lady: If two adults deny your product, what makes you think that you have any right to hand the sample to a child?