When Florida resident Erica Kalnins went shopping with her two young children, she had no idea she’d be mocked on social media.
The reason? A manager at the popular accessories store Icing didn’t approve that she had her 5-year-old daughter in a baby carrier while shopping at the mall. She also had her 1-year-old with her.
"Actually, we just stopped because my daughter wanted some bracelets. She was excited but she wasn't feeling well, so I said we'll stop real fast, so I put her in the Tula on my back,” Kalnins told USA Today.
The employee, however, snapped a photo of the two and shared it on her Facebook page along with much criticism and vulgar language, according to various news reports.
Kalnins wasn’t the only mom offended by the manager’s reaction. Two-dozen other moms went to the mall the next day with their children strapped the same way to prove an important point.
"It has nothing to do with being a lazy parent — it just has to do with us as moms wanting to carry our babies close because they're not small for long," Kalnins said. "We want to educate people that it's not a weird thing to carry your baby, it's totally normal. We like to carry them to have them close [and to] have both our hands free. It's a common sense thing — and we can shop and they're not destroying your store."
The company was also outraged by the photo and released the following statement: “We were appalled by the views expressed by an Icing Store Manager on her personal Facebook account, and her actions were a significant breach of conduct that we take very seriously. Her personal views in no way reflect the views of Icing, and we have taken the necessary appropriate action with the individual.”
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A Florida mother is outraged after a store employee shared this photo on Facebook to mock her for carrying her 5-year-old in a baby carrier.
