I remember purposefully hiding in the hollow center of the circular racks of clothing at the department store as a small child.

I do, too.

I also remember a few times (both as a young, scared small child, and as an older embarrased teenager) losing track of my parents and having the employees call "Will Mrs. Carrotson please come to the service counter" over the intercom...and I hear similar messages when shopping now as an adult.

That said, I'm a lot more fearful of what could happen if my toddler was found by someone other than me in the center of the clothing rack. To be clear, I have little fear of a criminal harming or absconding with my child, I'm much more afraid of what happens when a well-meaning bystander thinks they need to call CPS to make sure that my kid is taken care of.

Yeah, it does seem like CPS is the boogeyman. They're pretty much the last people you'd want involved with your kid.

I'm betting not all parents even consider these things might be making a permanent record. They just want something to find the kids if and when they're lost.

> I remember getting lost in a department store as a child.

I do too; except I remember being so scared of being lost that I kept better track of my parent