I so agree with this essay, and love the cat with the hat meme! The parent could also stay in the car, utterly ignore the child until calm occurs, and then take them back, thus avoiding government overreach. Inconvenient, not ideal, but perhaps practical given the current societal environment. I remember a supermarket meltdown where I left a full cart and took my child home for a much needed nap. Again, not ideal, but better than bribery and appeasement.