I was in Target shopping for socks when a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, walked up crying, saying she lost her mom. I’ve got younger cousins and a heart, so I said, “Let’s find an employee,” and walked with her toward the front.
Apparently, walking off with a lost child, even toward help, triggers every single alarm Target has.
An employee saw me, panicked, and hit the Code Adam button. Within seconds, doors locked, intercoms blaring. I was frozen like a deer in headlights, holding this kid’s hand, wondering if I was about to be tackled.
Luckily, the mom came running up shouting, “That’s her, that’s my daughter!” which saved me from being profiled into the sun.
Employee apologized. I apologized. Kid was fine. I left sockless and traumatized.
TL;DR: Helped a lost kid in Target, accidentally triggered a Code Adam and nearly got tackled. Socks not acquired.
Comments
You didn’t fuck up target fucked up
Your mistake was to go it alone and tell the child to follow you. That’s classic abduction scenario.
You should have flagged down someone else, anyone else, tell them what you observe the situation to be, then have them either go find a third person or an employee to be alerted.
In all cases, don’t touch the child, don’t ask the child to walk/move with you, stay at least one full arm length away.
And… Unfortunately this is why I just look away and keep my head down when I see a kid in distress. I’m a 40 year old guy with 2 kids of my own but unless my wife or one of my kids is with me, I get the minority report treatment. It’s a really unfortunate aspect of our society.
Kinda sounds like a coincidence to me. Mom notified her kid was missing, the store enacted a lost child protocol, then you showed up on your way with the kid. I would never hesitate to help a child in need, and I hope that you don’t hesitate next time. I’ll defend myself later, they can check the tapes, but I’ll be the first one to help.
I can pretty much guarantee that the mother told staff that her daughter was missing, and that’s when they set off the code adam.
Are you sure they hit the alarm because they saw you and not because the mom reported a missing child?
Wait so the employees knew she was a lost child but still didn’t help her themselves? Or they only realised she was lost when she started walking with you?
How did they know she was a lost child, though? Or that she wasn’t yours?
You did the right thing. I’m a 45-year-old man and I’m going to help a crying kid too. Not sweating what some weirdos think. You did the right thing to look for an employee as you had no idea how the situation had already progressed.
The shut down was more likely from the mom contacting staff, than from you walking around with the child.
I doubt you are what triggered the Code Adam. It was most likely the mom reporting her kid missing that triggered it.
Yikes, good intentions, bad timing! Glad it worked out.
You weren’t the trigger
Your fuck up is seeing this as a fuck and somehow thinking that someone saw you eith a child and that is why the protocols were instigated.
You did the right thing to help the child. Everything else was because the mother noticed her child was missing, and this is the procedure.
Letting yourself be traumatized in this situation is ridiculous. You should have bought your socks.
Also, screw the people making idiotic posts about staying a foot away. Children need comfort when in distress.
Decades ago I was in a Target and happened to notice a family with many children in tow. Some time later, I noticed one of the children, a toddler, alone and heading to the exit. There I was, looking left at the kid heading to the door, and looking right searching in vain for the rest of the family. No luck.
Once the toddler reached the inner tandem door, I sprinted to catch up, snagging him just before he got out the outer door. I picked him up, carried him inside, set him down on his feet. I pointed him at his family who now shows up and he runs to them.
If I did that today, I’d likely have been questioned for hours in a police station. I’d hate to think that I might not take action next time, but I might.
As someone who worked in a toy store and have dealt with multiple code Adams, this is not on you. Either the mom reported her child as missing, or an employee overheard the child saying she is lost. You were being helpful. Target being a store can self-contain and prevent the child from leaving the store or anyone taking the child out of the store. When you are in a mall, that child could wander off to another store, or a parent could leave their child behind accidentally (it happened so often), or someone could take the child and wander off.
Your first mistake was going to target. Nothing else was a mistake
The only thing close to a fuck up you did was holding the kids hand. It could easily be perceived as you leading the child around or forcing her to go. Unhanded, she couldve willingly walked with you.
Still not wromg for giving security to that child in distress but thats the closest thing to a mistake you did
Someone doesn’t watch “Black-ish” and it shows 😅
It’s policy. Everything worked as it should.
>“That’s her, that’s my daughter!”
This is when you open the interdimensional portal and scream “THE CHILD IS MINE THE PROPHESY WILL BE FULFILLED YOUR WORLD IS DOOMED!”
Should I be laughing this hard?
Ex target employee. Granted, it’s been a few years, but I doubt it’s changed that much.
It’s a code yellow when a child is missing at Target, and there is no “button” to trigger one.
You get on your walkie-talkie and say, “Code yellow, code Yellow, code yellow [insert description of child]
The child gets found it’s “cancel code yellow, cancel code yellow, cancel code yellow.
No alarms blare, doors don’t auto lock. All that happens is employees at the front stand in front of the door, and every other employee drops what they are doing and looks for the child.
Even if you think you did see a kid being abducted, you radio for an ETL or Assets Protection and let them handle it.
Yeah, I would not take a kid anywhere even to help. I will happily stop what I’m doing and yell for personnel to help, but I’m not personally touching that one with a barge pole.
I would litterally not help / touch some strangers child even If it ware on fire.
People have been knifed / kicked / punched / police investigaed just by simply talking to a lost child.
You did right, getting the kid to an employee or customer svc where they can deal appropriately is the right move. You likely intercepted the kid coincidentally around the same time the mom caught an employee.
“Sockless and traumatized, now on Lifetime”
Attract attention. Put your hand up in the air as if to wave at an employee. Look around for an employee. Walk toward nearest register or store phone.
I haven’t dealt with a child, but I do this type of thing when I find a wallet or lost personal item. Hold up wallet above my head, and go toward Lost and Found desk. Often the owner appears, and I check their license photo or otherwise verify contents.
I did that many years ago at Sears. I took her to the customer service desk, and the family was waiting there, iirc. They acted like they were mad at me, so I left.
My wife works with the public daily and they use code ADAM for ALL missing kids because you never know if the child has been abducted or not. So far in her 20 years, all code ADAMS have been kids walking away from parents not paying attention to the kids.
Instinctively, I’ve absorbed so many crazy stories that
4b. If 5 minutes pass with no employees or the mother in sight, call the store from within the store.
https://i.redd.it/5e2e27h0vd3f1.gif
I’ve been in this situation a few times. I try not to lead the child anywhere if I can help it. One little girl was lost in Home Depot. I wasn’t alone so I sat down next to her and reassured her while my husband got an employee. In Target, I lucked out and I saw an employee walk by and I yelled out to them. At a kids event for our church, I was much more relaxed. A little girl I had seen around (but didn’t know her name) came up to me in a crowd and said she lost her mommy. I actually picked her up and boosted her above the crowd to look for her mom and so her mom could see her. I absolutely would NOT have done this in any other situation. She and her mom saw each other and mom came over and got her. She taught her daughter that if she was ever lost to find another mommy and ask her for help. That’s exactly what she did!
OP is full of it. Doors auto locked. That’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard. You really think Target spends the money on an auto door locking system for the maybe 5 times a store may experience a lost child in a decade. HAHAHA. By law, doors must remained unlocked during normal business hours, code yellow/adam included.
I hope every store has this kind of lock down protocol when code Adam is triggered.
As soon as mom told an employee that code adam was triggered. You did nothing wrong. We did the same thing at marshalls.
I got fired from Walmart for joking that there had been a code brown in the bathroom because someone shit in the urinal.
Why would you call a shooting a code brown? Seems either not very descriptive or racist.
Not at all worth it to be a good guy these days.
0 post history, story that almost everyone in the comments is providing evidence is impossible, obviously not a fuck up and just someone trying to fabricate a hero moment… hm…
I work for a grocery chain and our missing child call is code Adam.
We recently had one, managers stood at front doors, employees stood at in store access doors(ie. Doors going anywhere behind the scenes). Other employees were walking around actively looking for said child.
Restrooms checked, etc.
I (62f) work at Home Depot. One time a (male) customer approached me and informed me there was an upset little girl in the next aisle by herself. I went to see, made “friends,” and hand in hand went to the front cashier to page her dad. Dad found us panicky on the way but I was thinking how smart it was of the (male) customers not to really interact with her much (there were several around watching her when I went up to her) and let an employee handle it so they wouldn’t be accused of anything malicious or inappropriate.
Stuff like this is why I do all my kidnapping at Walmart.
This is bringing back memories of my daughter absolutely loving to play hide and seek in the racks of clothing stores, including Target. She would laugh her head off. Of course she would give herself away, you would just slowly walk around the store and when we were close, she couldn’t help but start giggling.
Seems mm called the code Adam and was actively looking already and unless you were set as ones for explanations it doesn’t seem you had any consequence just a bit of excitement
Aw hell naw. I’m a trans woman. If a kid ever came up to me for help, I’d be obligated to walk calmly and briskly far far away unless I want to get arrested as a groomer child kidnapper
This is absolutely not factual. It’s not called a code Adam and there’s no way to unilaterally make the doors lock in a target. It’s also not target policy to use the intercom in a situation like this, especially if the employee saw the missing child. Just all around not a true thing that happened, atleast definitely not in the US.
Moral of the story: never help anyone
I’ve had something similar happen – lost child, Code Adam, etc. The second the child asked me for help, I told her certainly I would help her, and I shot my arm up in the air and started looking around for the nearest employee. I spotted one, waved my arm enthusiastically and started walking her way with the little girl. The employee started walking my way. The Code Adam went off before we met up. I told her that the little girl needed help finding her mom, the employee asked the LO her name, and 3-2-1 Done, Mom is there in a flash for the happy reunion. Nobody gave me so much as the side eye.
There is no “code adam” button, and Target does not have automatically locking doors. Code Adam is solely used by Walmart. You made this entire story up.
Not a FU. You found a lost child and went to report it. The alarm probably just went off, coincidentally as soon as you started walking.
You didn’t trigger the alert, the parent did when they approached an employee and told them they were missing their child.
Code Adam is a lost child alert at Target. Doors are locked, all staff are deployed to help look. It really was not about you. BTW, thanks for being kind to a lost crying child.
Not sure that’s how it works. In a Code Adam employees stand at the doors and check everyone going out. Other employees stop what they’re doong and search for the child.
Also, you should have looked for an employee first
I always loudly say “let’s find your mommy. What’s her name?” And then I speak loudly, “Linda, Linda, we’re over here.” (Dad, grandma, etc.)
If they can’t speak or don’t know their adult’s name, I reassuringly speak at louder than normal tone, “let’s find an employee to help us. They’ll find call your mommy for you.” And I keep repeating similar phrases as we continue to the service desk. It reassures the lost kid, and it helps to alert the parents or employees that may be nearby.
All those alarms going off must have also traumatized the little girl. Who could resist helping a crying 3 year old.
Im not sure what’s funnier. The fact that this situation is called a Code Adam (never heard of that, learn something new everyday), or the fact that your past few sentences kinda rhymes.
‘Employee apologized, I apologized, I left sockless and traumatized’
Lol
A kid at the mall was lost and came into a store i was in. I got the guy who worked there to watch her as I ran to try to find help. This boob at the jewelry place half listened to me explain and called security to inform them that I LOST A CHILD. I’m trying to tell him I found a child, he’s like “i got this.” ✋😏 all smug and shit. So security comes and asks me about my lost child and the parents had already relocated their little girl by this time. It was exhausting start to finish 😆
No you didn’t cause the alarm. And stores do have alarms. Of course they didn’t bother to use them at Walmart because they knew my boy was just being a stubborn little 4 year old. I knew he wouldn’t leave the store and I guess when he couldn’t find me to torment me anymore he went to the front to ask for help and that’s when I heard my name over the intercom. I do think I surprised the employees when I went to the front to collect my little pita and asked him if he was done now. He nodded and we went off with my shopping hand in hand. I’m so happy he stopped a bunch of this behavior as he grew up. Now he is an awesome adult and I admire him so much.
I was in walmart yesterday and they called a “Code Adam” over the intercom. They described the age of the child and what he was wearing over the intercom. Then I saw a bunch of employees walking around. They said he was last seen near the garden center and toy aisle. It was
conveniently where I was walking at the time. But I walked out the door without problem.
In the future, ask the kid for their mom’s name. Then loudly shout for a lost mom named Suzy or whatever. You can also ask what mom was wearing– and say, “We are looking for a lost mom named Suzy wearing a pink jacket.” Just keep repeating it over and over. An employee will find you, and if not an employee, other parents will see the mom frantically searching for her kid and will point her in your direction. Even better if you can get other adults to walk in other directions repeating the same call for “a lost mom named Suzy wearing a pink jacket.”
Everyone did the right thing in this. You, the child, the employees, the mom. This worked out exactly as it’s supposed to. Thank you for being a good person
The Good Samaritan law protects you as long as your helping
Yeah unfortunately, it’s not worth trying to help if the kid is not actively dying. And even then request the camera footage as soon as you can.
Kids are landmines.
I would tell the kid to start yelling “Mommy !”, and join in if they weren’t loud enough. Kids should know they can use their voice if they are scared or feel they are in danger.
The only FU is you tried moving with the kid.
Part of Code Adam procedure is the kid stays where they are, and the parent is brought to them. Best action was to stay with the kid, flag down an employee, and report a lost parent.
No good deed goes unpunished.
God bless this employee. Sorry this happened, that must have been rough, but that’s exactly how it should work and any parent would prefer this over a kidnapping.
0 day bot account.
My uncle gave me a tip that I think really helps. If there’s a lost child, give them a finger or arm to hold onto instead of taking their hand (obviously unless the situation isn’t safe, such as near a busy road). This way, the child can let go whenever they want, and you look less threatening because you’re not actively restricting the child in any way.
You didn’t cause the code Adam, mom did for letting her child get out of sight.
People are so incredibly guillble. An account made literally today posted about a situation where an entire store locked down like the movies. Have you ever seen that in real life?
What store locks people inside and blasts alarms?
I’ve helped hundreds of lost kids while working and at other times. Never take their hand unless they really need it to feel safe. Let the kid have some autonomy and follow them to where they lost saw their parent while trying to get another person to notify staff. Or just wave your arms a lot while you follow them around. It’s safest for all involved.
You shouldn’t help teach kids to let strangers take them anywhere.
>smart quotes
>no follow up comments.
>new account
This is a made up situation written by ChatGPT and is likely a karma farming account.
u/bot-sleuth-bot
Yeah, there are enough employees in a Target that maybe just staying stationary and soothing the child would be better than guiding them somewhere. That way if the mom or staff is circling, you aren’t moving away from them. Either way, you did the right thing trying to help
I used to work at Best Buy and that was the procedure when notified of a missing or lost child. Entrances closed/blocked, everyone stops what they’re doing to locate the child and/or parent.
Karma was mad at you for shopping at Target.
Code Yellow! Code Yellow! Code Yellow!
If they could ring the alarm when a strange man led a strange kid, why couldn’t they do that when they noticed an unattended wandering kid?
Target doesn’t use code adam
lol one time as I’m putting stuff into my car a kid on the side is crying and said someone is chasing him. I told him I can walk him the rest of the way home, which turns out is a few houses down. I stand there to make sure he gets inside okay and his dad comes out screaming at me asking why I’m chasing his son
Here’s some advice to help you feel safer if there’s a next time: Hold one hand up in the air and wave, and get the kid to call out “Mom!” – if they’re too upset, you do it. For a few minutes, stay in the same place. First try clapping over your head while calling, then just waving and calling. Then move towards an employee station that’s as close to you as you can see, but also as far away from any exit doors as possible. If it’s obvious you’re trying to attract attention, there will be doubt you’re trying to help.
If you can, ask for help from other shoppers to clap and wave too. The bigger the spectacle, the easier it is for parents to find the kid. Plus the more people helping, the more obvious it is you’re just there to help too.
A moment of silence for the next lost child who approaches OP for help as he nopes outta there like a sockless banshee.
What?
Yeah as an adult man if I found a lost child, unless it was in a situation where there was no one else around, I would stay with the kid, flag someone else down and ask them to find a member of staff.
If there was absolutely no one else around, I would basically do the same thing but obviously walk until you find someone.
By telling people “yes, hello, this child is lost, please help me inform relevant authorities for the situation,” you are creating witnesses that you aren’t abducting anyone.
I would say absolutely never touch them. I had something similar happen in Home Depot; luckily for me, years of societal conditioning made me know not to touch the little boy at all. As we walked to the main counter I asked what his mom’s name was, little guy stop crying and earnestly said: “Mommy”.. I got lucky Home Depot just paged his mom
I basically abducted a kid once. I was at work, this little dude, maybe 3, asks me if I had a quarter for the candy machine. I said I didn’t, but I did have 25 cents. He was around a pile of adults…I was in my work clothes, in a public facility. Anyway, I said, “Come with me, we’ll get a quarter”. He does. So the little dude and I wait in line together, I give the dimes and nickel I had and said “Ok it’s our turn, go ask (girls name, I used her name) for a quarter”. He gets his quarter and off he goes. Five minutes later, I happen to be walking by the cashier and he’s asking where his kid got money…I said “Oh that was me!” I explained to him. Dad says “I went to bathroom, come back and he’s got candy!!” He wasn’t upset or anything. Said “Well, he’s a resourceful kid”.
This is a wild lie.