Crazy People

What is in the water that is making people crazy? Is it the oil spill? I've noticed more and more people getting angrier and angrier over stupid small stuff. Okay so this lady comes into the store where I work (grocery/retail), and she comes through my line, the last few items she has are banannas, grapes, and mushrooms. So as any normal cashier does I placed them all in the same bag. None of them are going to hurt each other, banannas are heavier than grapes and grapes are heavier than mushrooms, so anyone with higher than a 3rd grade education knows which order they go in the bag.

So anyways, I tell the lady her total and then she looks at me and says "did you just put my banannas in that bag?". I replied "Yes mam, all your fruits and veggies are in one bag together, and she FLIPS. Instead of asking nicely and saying "can I get a seperate bag for the banannas" or something like that, she flips the f*** out on me. She starts ranting "your squishing my bananas" "they are going to be ruined" "why did you put my bananas in that bag"....so with as straight a face as I could I looked at her and said "seriously....you're freaking out over bananas". In my opinion anyone who freaks out over bananas should be shot in the head because you are an idiot.

So she huffs and puffs her way out of the store and I laugh the entire time because I just can't believe how stupid some people can be. THEY ARE BANANA'S I SWEAR THAT THEY WONT GET HURT BY THE EVIL GRAPES!! AHHHH!! but watch out for those mushrooms, I hear they hold grudges.

omg...seriously.

Oh, and then earlier in the day I had this older couple who came through my line and I had a very nice coworker of mine that was helping me bag items, and maybe she doesn't have as much training as some of the other people as far as bagging goes, but it wasn't like she killed someone.

So Amy* (name changed), bags the groceries. The couple had a mixture of cold and not cold stuff. Some of the cold stuff got put with some stuff that wasn't cold, and this old lady gets all upset and says "that dumb mexican needs to go back to school and get an education"...well since I've officially had it with mean and rude people, I looked right at her, pointed my finger and said "listen to me lady, she might have not bagged your items how you want them bagged, but at least she bagged them, maybe she needs more hands-on training, but one thing she is not stupid, and just because she is a mexican is absolutely irrelevant". I told her not to come through my line again if she is going to be mean and rude to my coworkers. She looked at me all surprised and then left with her husband and I repeated to her that she was extremely rude.

So people the next time you are out and about and you think you are going to blow up at someone, you better hope it isn't me...because I'll put you in your damn place. People need to take some chill pills.

Footloose: The Musical

I am so honored to be able to be apart of a huge musical production this year. "Footloose the Musical" (based on the movie with Kevin Bacon). I will be playing Mrs. Hewitt who is Willard's Mother. I am the inspiration for the song "Mama Says". Which in my opinion is one of the better songs in the musical....lol.

So we have just started rehersals and I am very excited that we will get to put on this show this summer. I am looking forward to a very exciting summer. I'll keep ya'll updated on everything as it rolls in.

Why I don't believe in God.

So I get asked this question alot. There are people (christians) who don't seem to understand why I don't believe.

When I was younger I used to believe. I went to church every Sunday. I read (or at least at the time skimmed) through the bible. I listened to the pastor spread his message. And it only took a couple of years before stuff started to go very wrong.

1st) Here are these "rules" in the bible. Every christian is suppose to follow these "rules" or will forever burn in hell. So I started paying attention to people from church that I would see throughout the rest of the week. What a bunch of hypocrites! There were people cheating on their spouses, having sex outside of wedlock, breaking every commandment in the book, and yet they come to church on Sunday and magically all their sins are wiped away, and they get a clean slate for the next week. That doesn't seem right. Seems kinda messed up. Basically the message it is sending is that I can go out and murder someone, go have unprotected sex, have an abortion, do drugs, drink until I can't stand up, but then on Sunday I get to just clean the slate, and what I've done means nothing.

Whatever. People should hold themselves and be held accountable by others for everything they do, and there shouldn't be a magic erase button. Can you imagine if our justice system was ran that way. "Oh Mr. Killer, we realize that you just murdered a family of 4 including their 3 month old child, but since it's been a week, all your crimes have been forgiving, have a nice life."

I know I wouldn't want to live in that world.

2nd) People say that God is all-knowing and all-loving, but look at how many people it commands be put to death. Anybody who has an affair, any teenager that disobeys the parent, homosexuals, anyone who works on the sabbath, and the list goes on and on. The TRUTH of the matter is that if all the people that the bible says to kill were to drop dead tomorrow....THERE WOULDN'T BE ANYONE ALIVE!!

3rd) Christianity believes that it is wrong for a man and another man to be together (although I find it funny that it says nothing of lesbian relationships). So you're telling me that you really believe that it is more okay for two heterosexual people who beat the shit out of each other day after day to get married, then for two gay people who have been together 20 years and actually love each other.

4th) I find it hard that an all-loving God would allow millions of children to die everyday. If God would make it rain just a little more in some areas then the people would be able to grow more food and would then be able to support themselves better. But does he make it easier for them? NO. Infact millions of them die from starvation everyday. If he really existed and really was all-loving, then there would be no suffering.

5th) There is absolutely no proof that he exists. Why wouldn't he show himself "again". Seriously its been like 2,000 years since the first time he supposably showed himself. So why wait. If he wants me to believe (which is what the bible says) then when I turn around at the end of this sentence he will be standing in the middle of my room...Here I go...Look at that...NOTHING. No God, just my books and my fan.

The bible also says in many places that if people pray they will be answered. It PROMISES that you will be answered. However I guarantee you that if every person on this planet started praying for a cure to cancer, or to no more war, or anything else that would affect the masses, I GUARANTEE you that nothing would change.

In my opinion, life is just a big game of chance. Coincidences happen (stuff like you pray your friend will get better and they do), and I can say with extreme certainty that unless God comes and stands in the middle of my room and tells me and shows me that he exists, that I will never believe in him again. It's a bunch of lies that are meant to brainwash people into doing others bidding.

A world without ANY religion would be the PERFECT world.

Shopping.com

Shopping.com is doing an awesome thing. For every review that you post on their website they will pay you $1.00 (up to 100)!!

There is a catch, but one that can easily be taken care of. Your review has to have been found "helpful" by at least 1 person. So spread the words to your friends that you need your reviews to be found helpful.

So what are you all waiting for! Go to www.shopping.com today and sign up for this incredible offer. All money is paid out by paypal, and this offer ends on April 30th!

Franklin Goose

They are running a paid review period until March 31st. For every review you post on their site on products that you've bought and used, they will pay you $5 in store credit.

If you are a parent, eco-friendly or not, then you need to take advantage of this opportunity! I know I am going to since we've used alot of the products with all the babies running around our house.

BeeZag.com

This is such a wonderful site. Basically all you do is log on and tell them a little about yourself (and by little I mean only a few question maybe every other day). They want to know about you, but not all at once like some of the other sites that I've been to who want you to fill out a 60 page profile upon joining.

Now Beezag gives you between 2-4 ads daily to watch, and in return they give you money. It's not much, some of the ads only get you .08, but some pay you .15. And they start to add up. To date I have earned well over $10 just by simply watching a few ads everyday.

Seriously this is one of the few legitimate sites that actually pay you for your time. So if you have a PIN number you can sign up and start right away, otherwise you have to join the waiting list. I have no idea how long the waiting list is, but it is totally worth it.

Facebook

So facebook is really making me mad. Everytime I try and do something the damn page errors. I can't accept any of the "gifts" for the games that I play...errr. It's just so upsetting that the website never seems to be working. Maybe if they spent less time trying to "upgrade" what isn't broken and work on fixing what obviously is broken, then maybe the site would actually work.

Dreams

Have you ever had a dream that you just can't get out of your head? Something you want so bad that you can practically taste it. Have you wanted something but didn't know how to make that dream a reality?

I have a dream. My lifes dream, my career dream. I love singing. Music is my life, I made that decision back in Middle School that it was what I wanted to do. But, through one thing and another I got swayed from one side to another, and got pushed farther from my dream. People told me I couldn't achieve my dream because it was "too out there", at least in their opinion.

My dream is to become and Cruise Ship Entertainer. Specifically for Princess Cruise Lines. How did I decide that this was what I wanted? Well for starters it was the music. The second thing was that I love the ocean, everything about it, how large it is, how comforting it is, but then in a split second it can turn into the most violent force known to man. But even still it is calming. The waves, crashing.

Now with that in mind, I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to do with my future. I could become a teacher and teach music, but I don't really see myself being a teacher. In my opinion it takes something special, and unfortunately I lack that. Or I could take my chances in show business, I could move to LA and try becoming the next big thing, but well everyone knows what the chances of that are...lol.

So it dawned on me a few years ago and I started looking at getting a cruise ship job. After looking through all the major cruise lines, I decided that Princess was where I was going to work. I've decided it, and I won't accept anything else.

Some of you might think I'm crazy for saying that, but I am big believer in positive thinking. If you think positive things, then you are more likely to get your desired outcome. So I keep thinking positively.

Now, I do have alot of things that I need to do before I can send my first audition DVD in. Things like getting in better shape, and learning some basic dance (I plan to enroll in a class at the local community college soon). In June there is going to be a huge fundraiser for a group that I am involved in, and one part of the event is going to be some live entertainment on a special stage. So I plan on getting on that stage and putting on the performance that will win me a spot on that Cruise Ship. Now to tell you just how many "spots" there are available, there are 15 ships in the Princess Fleet, and each one has up to 4 vocalists that work for 6 month contracts. That means that in the entire company (as far as I know), in the given year there are approximately 120 positions. Thats not alot, but I know in my heart that one of those spots belongs to me.

So that's my dream. I've written down my dream, and written down my goals that I need to achieve in order to reach that goal, and I encourage everybody to do the same. No matter what happens in your life, don't give up on your dreams. Don't give up because something in your life changes. Only move forward. Find out what you need to do to achieve that goal and then do it. Take it one step at a time, and never give up.

I'm not. No matter how much or how little support I have from my family.

Family

Family. It's a 6 letter word. But is blood really thicker than water?

Let's start from the beginning shall we. I'll fill you in on what happened in my life in regards to my family and we can compare horror stories.

So in 1984 my mother met this guy through an ad that she placed in the "Little Nickel" paper. Now I don't honestly know whats more embarrassing, placing the ad, or answering it. Either way my biological father answered the ad and started having a relationship with my mother. And though he will say that it was only a couple dates, I have photo evidence that he was still seeing her four months later, so he can't lie about that anymore.

So after he learned that my mother was pregnant he split from the picture. Basically showing his worth as a man by leaving a woman who already had a three year old son alone and pregnant. Such a winner.

Anyways, so a few months later my mother tried to get the court to order some child support on him once I came into the world (which would be six months later), well after he threatened her and me, she dropped the case fearing that he would harm her and/or her baby.

After that she met my "father". I refer to him as this because they met while she was pregnant with me and he was there when I was born and he is the man who has been in my life EVERY day, and has always cared about me, and always provided me with what I needed and wanted. I was daddy's little girl, and I still am.

So when I was born into this world on June 8th, 1985 my mother was dating my "father" and was raising me and my brother, and my "fathers" two sons from his previous marriage. They married on January 10th, 1986 and we officially became a full family.

Then when I was 3 years old one of my older step-brothers sexually molested me and it led to the divorce of my parents. All I remember was that my mom, brother and I went to live in a house that was in the middle of freaking nowhere, and our lives changed from that point on. I only recently learned about the molestation after going through some court records and seeing it in one of the reports. My parents had never intended for me to find out, which personally I think is rediculous, but whatever cause they were doing what they thought was best (which still ended up backfiring on them anyways.) Proof that the truth will ALWAYS come out, even if its 21 years later.

Anywhoo, back to the story. So my step-brother allegedly went through some couceling and is "supposably" all better (although I highly doubt that), and my parents ended up rekindling their relationship, and we all moved back in together. So then some hard times fell on the family. My parents needed to file for state assistance b/c my mother was unemployed and my father didn't make that much money to be raising 4 kids.

In Washington State apparently there is a law that states that if you go on welfare assistance you have to be receiving (or at least have an order for) child support for all of your children. Well my brother's father was already paying what little child support he was, but my biological father was not paying anything since my mother had stopped pursuing it back in 1985 due to the threats.

So the state went after him. As the court papers say he filed a motion back stating that I wasn't his child and that he didn't know my mom was even pregnant (even though I have a photo of them TOGETHER when she was pregnant). He then told the court that he wanted some visitation rights. My parents didn't object at all and were happy to see that he had an interest in seeing and being a part of my life. Little did they know at the time, but he had alterior motives.

So he came and saw me four times. Four very short times. And he bailed out on other times he was suppose to come see me. I still remember sitting by the phone waiting for it to call. I remember sitting on the couch waiting for him to come to the door. And he never came. Then one day my parents got some surprising paperwork in the mail. It was from the court and it was custody papers filed by my biological father wanting to take me completely away from my family and the life I was living. He claimed that he had grown so close to me and had realized that I was living in a bad enviornment and that I would be better suited living on the other side of the state with him and his family.

Now he did put in there that my family could have visitation rights once a month, but think about it. My parents wern't going on welfare because they could afford to make monthly trips across the state. I believe that he had no intention of letting them see me. He wanted to cut them out of my life.

So because my biological father has money he was able to buy his way into the court room, which by the way, is very apparent in the court paperwork. And back and forth went the fighting for a while. My biological father stopped visiting and only sent a postcard every now and then. Then my parents came up with a billiant idea. Adoption. My "father" went to my biological father and set up an agreement of adoption. Basically what it said was that my "father" would legally become my father, and that my biological father would have no legal or monetary obligation to me. Well, my biological father signed those papers so fast if you had blinked then you would have missed it.

So I never heard from him or the other members of that side of my family again. At least for 17 years. But let me tell you a little about that 17 year time period. Do you have any idea what it's like to know that out there somewhere is someone that is your family. I KNEW I had another father, I KNEW I had an older sister and a younger brother, I WONDERED if I had any other siblings... Every day of my life was pure torture because all I did was wonder. I was so young when everything happened that I didn't understand it, especially all the legal stuff. All I knew was that I had family out there.

Every now and then I would search his name on the internet, and I would try and track him or my sister down. Sometimes I'd get lucky and come up with an address of the person I thought was him. I'd sit down and write out this long dreary letter, with lots of questions and wondering why he turned his back on me. I never got the nerve to actually send the letter.

Then in May of 2009 while I was trolling through MySpace, I got a brilliant idea. I figured out that my brother would be a teenager by now, and what teenager doesn't have a MySpace...so I typed in his name to see if any results came up. There were a bunch (he apparently has a pretty common name), but there was this one that stood out to me. I couldn't see his face in the picture but there was just something. So I drafted a letter. In it I asked if his parents were ***** and ******, and I asked if he knew he had a sister.

I waited in anticipation for a response. I hoped for the best but was completely prepared for the "You've got the wrong person" letter. So finally about 4 days later a response showed up in my mailbox. It took me two hours to finally open it, and when I did....I cried. The first line was "Yes, I'm your brother".

I couldn't believe it, was I actually getting that family moment I'd been longing for the last 17 years. Was I finally going to be able to fill the void in my heart? I read his message at least 50 times before finally getting the courage to call my best friend. As we jumped for joy I put together a return message. After that we were talking everyday. We started texting and really creating a brother/sister bond.

In my original email to him, I had asked him to not tell my biological father that I had made contact. I wasn't sure what his reaction was going to be, and I wasn't ready to be walked out on again. But after a few days I told my brother that it was okay to break the news. After he did my biological father asked for my email address so he could talk to me. That's when a whole new round of lies started.

His first email to me read like a freaking newspaper obituary. I have *** brothers and ** sisters and ** uncles and what-not. Stuff I didn't even really care about. I don't know those people, they prolly don't know I exist, so why should I care right now about them. There are bigger issues out there.

My response letter was like a friggin book. Like three pages long of all these questions and telling him about every feeling I had over the last 17 years. Most of them were hate and discontent and wondering why I hadn't been good enough for him to stick around. He of couse responded to that one with "It's not your fault", which now I do realize it ISN'T my fault, it's HIS.

So we all talked for a while, I finally talked to my older sister (who was the person I longed for the most since I always wished she was there when I was growing up), and we decided that I would come visit them in California in July. And that seemed to creep up so fast I wasn't expecting it.

So I took 3 weeks from my life (July 18th - August 9th) and dedicated it to filling this hole in my heart that had been hurting for 17 years. I flew down on a Saturday and boy was I nervous. My heart was beating so hard as I got off that plane at LAX. I text my brother to find out where he was and he said they were waiting for me in baggage. I slowly made my way to the escalator leading down, and I stopped for a minute to catch my breath because I knew there was no going back now. I could only go forward. I could only go down that escalator and start a new chapter in my life.

Now, coming down that escalator was the scariest moment of my life, as I came down my attention went right to my step-mom (who is the greatest step-mom in the world, I'll explain later on) she hadn't changed at all from the woman who I had in the picture from 17 years before on the couch in our living room. I got to the bottom and hugged her first, and then hugged my biological father, and then my brother.

For the next three weeks we did amazing things. I'd never seen Southern California before so it was a new experience for me. We went to an amazing dinner show called "Medieval Times" (highly reccommended), and we went to Universal Studios, we went to the beach and I learned how to body board with my lil brother. Although I sucked at it, it was still really fun.

The awkward moments occured whenever I was left alone with my biological father. I wanted to talk, to ask him questions, but I just never felt right. Part of me was waiting for him to open the conversation, but he would just sit there. It was really awkward. The only person who didn't make me feel awkward was my step-mom, from the moment I got off that plane she was like a sigh of relief to me. She was so accepting of me, almost like she'd been waiting to see me since the last time 17 yrs ago.

We bonded the most. I will never forget sitting in her office just talking. Some of my best memories from my time there include her. Even when she helped my drunk ass walk out of the Medieval Times show...lol. Large alcoholic drinks prolly weren't the right thing at the time, but it was an absolute blast.

So when I left California it was bittersweet. I'll never forget hugging my little brother who is a foot taller than me, and crying b/c I don't know when or if I will ever see him again. I will always remember that my step-mom was the one who followed me as far as she could until she couldn't see me anymore going through security.

All in all, my experience down there was great. But great things in my life never last long. About a month or so later, I received an email that I found very offensive. Basically the message was that it was our patriotic duty to ensure that all Muslims kill themselves because they are all terrorists.

Now I am an Athiest. I believe that EVERYONE has a right to believe what they believe, but I also believe that nobody should be spreading hate like that. I brought it to the attention of the sender and that person apologized for the message. And it was done, the matter was closed. Until a couple days later when I received a new email from my biological father. The message summarized said "Get off your soapbox and shut up. My God is the only God and if you don't believe that then you will burn in hell."

Now I'm not posting the entire message on here because it went on to say other horrible things that someone, who might actually be looking for a relationship with their estranged daughter, would not have said. But like anyone else would have, I got angry, sad, disappointed, mad, and everything in between. I tried to keep my mouth shut. My head and my heart were fighting a battle, and it took me almost a week to declare a winner. I decided my head was right and my heart would just have to take a beating for this one.

I wrote him back telling him that I knew everything. I knew about the lies during the court hearings. I knew about the manipulation of the lawyers and judges. I told him that i now know exactly what kind of man he really is. He wasn't the person I thought he was. I let him know that if his "God" did exist, that apparently he was looking after me and ensuring that my biological father wasn't in my life to bring me down and turn me into a super conservative bible thumper with a closed mind. I told him, I didn't need him in my life when I was a child, and I don't need him now.

And I was right. It may have taken me 17 years to realize it, but I've realized that the only people I want in my life are good people. I only want people with open minds and open hearts. I'm not saying that you have to agree with my on everything, hell there are somethings my best friend and I don't agree on, but we still love each other and hardly a day goes by when we don't talk to each other. The only people I need in my life are people who are going to make me feel like a whole and complete person. Not someone who is going to judge me and tell me I'm going to hell simply because I believe that we shouldn't encourage people to commit suicide.

So, thats it. We're up to today. As of this moment I don't have contact with my biological father or my little brother (I'm sure that he has been brainwashed that I'm the enemy). I do however still have a relationship with my older sister and my step-mom. And I hope to never lose those two, because I'm afraid I'll fall apart if I lose them again.

So to answer the question...is blood really thicker than water? In some cases yes. In some it isn't. My biological father is apparently willing to throw away the opportunity to get to know an amazing woman. A strong independant free thinking woman. I'm not being told what to do by a bible, or someone holding that bible. I can think for myself. I was raised to believe that I can do anything I want, and that I should only have people who support me in my life. And that's the right thing to do.

My moral compass is just fine thank you. But I know at least one person who needs some recalibrating. Unfortunately, people like that will never change. They will never open their eyes. And soon he'll be gone, his body will die and he will cease to exist. And I'll visit his grave, just once. I'll stand there, and not feel a second of regret for the decisions I've made in the past 6 months.

Stay tuned for my next post.

The Safety Of Our Children

So I realize that being a parent isn't easy. There is no magic manual that you can turn to when you need to know what is best for your child. You get advice from people all around you, most of it you just shrug off because hey, lets face it, it's your kid right?

Well there is something going on that I think every parent needs to open up and use their head. It's common sense.

Here's the scenerio:

You are running late to a birthday party and you still need to pick up a gift for the birthday girl. You grab your daughter from daycare and drive to the local store looking for that last minute gift. Now you've taken the time to correctly buckle your child into their car seat because you know that in the event that you get into a car accident, your child has a less chance of injury when buckled correctly.

So you pull into the store parking lot and go into the store with your child in hand. You grab a shopping cart and you pick up your child. NOW PAUSE....here's the question I want you all to ask yourself right now.... where in that shopping cart are you going to place your child?

If you said, "I'm going to put my child in the seat and buckle her in properly because that's what that seat is for", then congratulations!! you pass!! In my opinion you are already doing a great job of parenting, go ahead and pat yourself on the back.

For those of you who answered "I'm going to put her in the bottom part of the basket (the place where the groceries go) and she'll be fine." You are the ones who need to pay attention.

I am a cashier and I've seen that scenerio too many times. Negligent parents failing to use the safety seat which has been provided for them by the store to prevent accidents. Avoidable accidents.

I'm going to tell you just a handful of things that have happened in the last MONTH. I am being completly honest and serious that all these have occured since Jan 1 2010.

The first incident happened just after New Years, a mother and a father who were frequent guests in the store in which I work we coming towards our self-check registers. Their 1 year old son was standing in the bottom part of the basket. As they got closer to the register the young boy reached forward trying to grab something on the belt. He toppled out of the cart and landed head first on the floor bounced on his back before actually stopping. What did the mother do...she picked him up and started bouncing him hard. At this point I had called for help from my management, however the parents left the store without waiting for an ambulance.

Was this a serious thing? YES, it was extremely serious. And honestly I don't know if that child is even still alive today. I haven't seen the parents or him in the store since this incident occurred.

The second incident happened just a few days later. I was working the other self-check lanes and a father was paying at a register next to the self-checks. He had his maybe 1 year old son in the cart behind him and wasn't paying attention to him at all. I watched as the child lifted one of his legs out of the basket and tried to push himself over the edge, at this point I ran to the register and got there just in time to catch him before he hit the ground.

Was this an avoidable situation? YES, if the father had properly buckled the child into the safety seat it would have avioded him being able to get out, and also he should have been paying more attention to his son rather than to talking to the cashier.

The third incident I would like to share with you could have been a terrible, horrific scene. It was about a week and a half after the second incident and I was standing at a regular register. I had finished with my customer and had looked behind me to see a mother and father pull up in the line next to mine. The father took off and the mother immediately turned her attention to the magazine stand leaving her TWO children (approx age 2 & 5) in the shopping cart behind her. At first they were sitting there quietly, but then the candy caught their eye, and they both started reaching for candy that was out of their reach. I watched in horror as the cart started to flip, and I yelled "WATCH THE CART" and I ran over just in time to catch the cart as it was falling (with the two children inside) into the rack of candy. As soon as I stopped the cart the younger boy was still falling forward ready to go out of the cart and I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back in. When the father came back the mom told him what had happened and his response was "that would have been so cool if they flipped it"....I have never come closer to hitting someone as I did at that moment.

I shouldn't even have to tell you whats wrong with that situation. If you honestly don't know, then do the world a favor and don't have any children.

So what is wrong with parents now-a-days? Is it seriously that hard to take a couple extra minutes to ensure that your child is properly buckled into the safety seat? You take the extra minute for the car seat because of the risk of accident injury...but do you know that a fall from a shopping cart can cause brain injury, spinal injury, they can break a leg or arm, and they can even die. I don't know if it ever crossed anyones mind but the flooring in ANY store is nothing more than concrete with linoleum (maybe carpet). Thats it....it's not feathers, or pillows, or soft cuddly teddy bears....its hard and it can and will injure your child.

Now who is at fault if your child is injured from falling from a shopping cart? Is it the stores fault that you didn't properly restrain your child in the seat? Is it the stores fault that you turned your back on your child and got focused on something more "important"? Or is it the PARENT who is neglegent because they made bad choices from the second they placed their child improperly in the shopping cart?

My answer is that it's definately 100% the parents fault. These kind of injuries are avoidable if you just take the extra two minutes to buckle your child in the seat. And if your child is too large for the basket seat, then stores have those bigger carts which you should be using for your older children.

Under no circumstances should you be endangering your child's life. So please next time you go to the grocery store, take TWO minutes to properly save your child. And save yourself the embarrassment of all the other patrons and employees who will think you are an idiot when you allow your child to get injured.