Quick summary: A former Florida theme-park quick-service worker said parents handed them an infant during a busy lunch rush and then vanished into the crowd. The employee carried the calm baby while searching the park for roughly 30 minutes; a manager urged them to keep looking and they ultimately intercepted the child’s grandmother. OP said security wasn’t called because such abandonments happen frequently at the park. Online commenters condemned the parents and recommended using announcements or contacting authorities in similar situations.
Theme-Park Worker Recalls Parents Handing Over Their Baby — Then Disappearing Into the Crowd
Quick summary: A former Florida theme-park quick-service worker said parents handed them an infant during a busy lunch rush and then vanished into the crowd. The employee carried the calm baby while searching the park for roughly 30 minutes; a manager urged them to keep looking and they ultimately intercepted the child’s grandmother. OP said security wasn’t called because such abandonments happen frequently at the park. Online commenters condemned the parents and recommended using announcements or contacting authorities in similar situations.
04:33 PM, 11/19/2025Society
A former quick-service employee at a busy Florida theme park shared a startling experience after parents handed them their infant and then walked away. The account, posted on the "entitledpeople" subreddit, describes how the worker spent nearly 40 minutes carrying a calm baby while searching the park for the child's guardians.
The poster (OP) said children often gravitated toward them while they were on shift — and that brief, friendly interactions with young guests were common. On a particularly hectic lunch rush, OP felt a small tug on their sleeve and found a “chubby, baby hand” holding on. The mother encouraged OP to pick up the child, saying it was unusual for the baby to be so outgoing.
“The baby girl was adorable with big blue eyes and not a lick of hair on her round head,” OP wrote. “She reached out for me to hold her.”
OP agreed to hold the infant “just for a second,” but when they looked up, the mother, father and grandmother had already drifted away into the crowd. With no names or identifying information beyond physical descriptions, OP walked the park for about 30 minutes holding the contented baby and looking for the family.
A manager eventually came out; when OP explained, the manager told them they needed to keep looking. After roughly 10 more minutes, OP spotted the grandmother and intercepted her as she tried to leave. OP returned the baby and later said the grandmother looked “semi-disappointed.” The experience left OP shaken: they declined to hold children at work thereafter.
In an edit to the post, OP noted security was not summoned. They explained that this kind of abandonment, while alarming, happens often enough at the park that calling police every time would be impractical. That reality, OP said, is why staff sometimes face awkward, potentially risky encounters when guests desert young children.
Reddit commenters reacted strongly. Some urged staff to make an intercom announcement and warn guardians they would contact police and child services if the child’s caretakers did not return. Others condemned the parents’ behavior outright, calling it irresponsible and cruel.
Takeaway: Handing an infant to a stranger in a crowded venue can endanger the child and place staff in an impossible spot. The post prompted readers to warn guardians that abandoning a child is never acceptable and suggested using park staff, security or an announcement system to reunite families safely.