So I was shopping today with my 4.5 year old son

We were in the toy section, and he was seated on a bottom shelf studying a Lightning McQueen product, while I stood nearby (perhaps ten feet away) and investigated the latest offerings by the good people at Mega Bloks.

Suddenly two women raced past the aisle calling out "Aiden Thomas! Aiden Thomas!" One was apparently the boy's mother, the other the grandma. Through the course of events, I learned that Aiden Thomas is also 4.5 years old and had wandered away from them somewhere in the store.

I don't have a lot of other details, such as how long he'd been missing or what he looked like, but I'll tell you this: I was briefly questioned three separate times in ten minutes to determine whether my son was really mine. Once by a concerned shopper, and twice by employees. The "questioning" went like this:
WTF? Is it standard procedure to assume that any 37-year old guy with a kid has acquired that kid through unlawful means? If indeed I'd grabbed young Aiden Thomas, would I have stayed in the same department with him?

Worse, if someone had pushed the issue, how would I have proven that I am, in fact, my son's father? I suppose that they could review the security tapes that show us entering together and shopping together on earlier occasions, but what other recourse would I have?

Happily, the women were reunited with Aiden Thomas about ten minutes later. But what if she'd been totally nuts and asserted that my son was hers? Sure, my son could identify me as his father, but would that overrule the crazy woman's claim? What if she'd made the claim about my pre-verbal 21 month old?

Yikes!

Presumably they'd at least be wearing different clothes.

Your son is not adopted, right? I'm assuming some appearance of familiar connection..I could understand the suspicion if say you were with a blond hair blue eyed child and you were brown hair brown eyed..or appear to be a different race. Also, would not a child respond REFLEXIVELY to their name being called?
Obviously..security people have to think quickly but that means BEING intelligent as well...:wow:

people trying to help.

Next time, try grabbing your son, cupping your hand over his mouth and yelling "GET BACK, OR THE KID GETS HURT"

Hilarity ensues.

(I hope you all know I am just joking)

(about 5 or 6) knew that she could push her mother's buttons in a store by loudly declaiming "You're not my Mother!" which left my SIL a little flustered since she is white and my niece is bi-racial!