Not necessarily if she had been in the same place as he was.
You choose to lay ALL blame on the mother, others choose to lay ALL blame on Walmart...........I don't choose to lay blame on anyone at this point in time.
I don't understand your total lack of compassion for this woman when you, yourself, have bragged on this thread how your mother would not only be more than 5 feet away, but in another room, from you and your siblings in a store.
For all anyone knows the "playing" this child was doing was making faces in front of a mirror.........not much different than you and your siblings "whispering" to each other.
I would no more leave my child/ren outside a dressing room alone while I tried on something than I would bungee jump. My mother didn't do it in the 60's, nor did my grandmother in the 40s...........I suggest you not brag about your mother's behavior. My mother and her sister, my brother and I, and my own daughter all were (and is being) raised with the concepts of manners and obedience...but we were never left alone without adult supervision in such a situation as you describe.
I don't understand your total lack of compassion for this woman when you,
Projection on your part. I've never called it other than heartbreaking and a tragedy. Unfortunately, one that could have been avoided. The reason the 3 yr old shouldn't have been left 5 feet away by the mirror was because HE COULD GET HURT. What a concept.
If your trying to get me angry by attacking Mom, you missed. We didn't wander. That was the whole point. Even at that young age, we knew not to walk away from where we were told to stand. Or sit. Certainly has changed. Btw, there are other freepers with the same experiences as children. Too bad you didn't read the whole thread.