My worse mess in a store was a 12 pack of bottled beer falling apart at the cash register.
The cardboard had gotten wet from moisture in the cooler. It came apart as I lifted it up on the counter. Several bottles hit the floor.
I didn’t have to notify the employee. She was looking at me. 
I wanted to hide. I apologized.
It was partially my fault. I now check the packaging closely before getting an item.
I don’t think it’s any big secret that working in a fast food restaurant is considered one of the worst jobs in modern society.
I would also be outraged as well if an employee approached me about a mess of any kind. Accidents happen. It’s the employee’s job to maintain the cleanliness of the store, not mine.
What did the employee think he was going to achieve by confronting @ekedolphin? He can’t make him come back and clean it up.
@ekedolphin was a bit rude though. He should have at least tossed the employee a dollar bill for his trouble.
No, it is not your responsibility. In fact, they don’t want you to do so because, should you get injured (slip/fall/etc), there are liability issues.
When i make a mess i general tell an employee, and don’t clean it myself. I’ve felt slightly guilty about that. But reading the replies, I’m feeling much better. I don’t if injure myself, but yeah, i might use lots of expensive paper towels, or otherwise do something the store would prefer i not do.
Their containers are also designed specifically to launch them all over the place if you look at it wrong.
If the store isn’t paying you to clean up, then it is quite literally not your job and you shouldn’t do it.
Your common-courtesy responsibility is to make a reasonable effort to inform a store employee that a mess exists.
Add me to the folk who find this odd. The OP makes a mess - admittedly due to a faulty cup. But it never crosses his/her mind to notify staff to clean up a potential slip hazard. Just decides to “leave it like that”, and when someone else takes action, “just … wander[s] off awkwardly.”
The woman went somewhat above and beyond - tho if, as you say, there were plenty of towels readily available, at least dropping a couple doesn’t strike me as at all odd.
Little to say about the shit incident. Not sure how you make a mess (even a little one) without knowing you did so. And, if you soil the bathroom, it is basic courtesy to the staff and other customers to let the staff know. Of course, it is inappropriate for the staff member to confront them.
I feel the need to again highlight that this was not just a random woman. This was a parent with their kids in a public place in parent mode, and at the risk of slight sexism, a woman in mom mode, which can sometime be higher alert than dad mode.
Fixing spills before they get worse has been her automatic activity with the kids all day. Looking out for things her kids could get into, let alone that might be hazards to them, and proactively dealing with them, has been her norm.
I remember my hypervigilance as dad back then and I did not have the sociocultural baggage of momness.
No way I’d have helped clean up the mess as random guy walking by. But with kids in tow? Dad mode would have kicked in.
I don’t think I’ve ever soiled a public bathroom. But I’ve often used the last of the tp, or noticed they were out of towels, or there was water on the floor, or…
Yeah, finding an employee and mentioning the problem is the thing to do.
“shouldn’t?”
I would he did not HAVE TO do it, but not “shouldn’t”. If someone feels moved to clean up a mess in a store (especially one he or she made) they won’t deprive anyone of a their means of making a living. It’s OK to volunteer, be a good citizen, etc. You don’t have to, but you can.
The exception would be anything involving biohazards - leave that to someone with personal protection like gloves.
And absolutely do inform someone working at the store.
(Which brings up one more reason I object to fully-automated stores proposed by some tech-lovers - no one to clean up messes which will inevitably occur.)
At the grocery store we would much rather have you tell us there’s a spill than try to clean it yourselves. We’ve got the super-absorbant pads and the absorbant powder and the big scrubber/wet-vac.
This thread is reminding me of the time I was on an airplane and my seat mate, suddenly and with no warning, projectile vomited, making a mess across the seatback in front of her and the one in front of me as well. She was mortified, but also still queasy, and apologized to me profusely as she stumbled off to the bathroom as fast as she could.
I alerted the flight attendant, who was upset with me, muttering angrily her breath as she tried to clean up the mess with inadequate supplies - basically, just some napkins. It was very surprising because first of all, it wasn’t MY fault, so I had no idea why she was yelling at me. Second, I was astonished that she didn’t have better cleaning supplies (yeah, space is tight on an airplane, but surely people throw up due to motion sickness sometimes, you’d think they’d have something better than napkins on hand to deal with it), and third, it was not very professional of her to take it out on me even assuming I was the person who barfed; after all, it’s not like it was done on purpose.
Given how embarrassed and apologetic my seat mate who threw up was, I was quite glad she missed the tirade of the flight attendant. The seat mate already felt humiliated; being chewed out by the attendant would have made her feel even more terrible. Far better that I was the target of the flight attendant’s ire, since I was truly blameless and could brush it off thinking to myself what a jerk the flight attendant was. When she returned from the bathroom, where apparently she threw up more into the toilet, she continued apologizing. I reassured her that I understood and she shouldn’t feel bad; I didn’t tell her how nasty the flight attendant’s reaction had been.
Yes, you shouldn’t do it. A private company isn’t a public place, so this is not about being a “good citizen”. There’s nothing noble for doing unpaid labor for a company you don’t own. Further, you’re not trained in the store’s procedures for cleanliness or safety, you shouldn’t be rummaging around looking for cleaning supplies. Your attempts to drag a fistful of paper towels over a soda spill might make the problem less noticeable while leaving a slipping hazard or attraction for pests. Are you going to put out the little pylon that says “wet floor” to warn the other customers? No, of course not. Leave it to the people who are trained and paid to do that.
If everybody did this, the management wouldn’t have a good sense of how much labor is needed to actually keep the store clean, and they won’t make the investment, and they’ll be profiting off the good faith of the general public. That shouldn’t be encouraged.
Don’t do work you aren’t paid for, unless you’re consciously volunteering to improve the public good or benefit someone else’s human needs.
Fair enough. But given what I’ve seen far too often of parents in public places, I sorta feel a couple of "responsible"s, "good"s, and the like could be inserted into your statement. 
Heh, reminded me of when we took Max, our dachshund, to the vet. They’re very nice to him, and they like him, but he acts like he’s off to be executed. One time, he stopped and pooped right on the doormat before going in. Fortunately, it was a perfect poop, I had a poopy bag, and could pick it up without leaving any residue. Whew!
Pluto picked one of those perforated doormats to crap on at the vet. 
Ergh, that’s the worst.
Oh, please - be reasonable.
If you make a SMALL spill that you can easily wipe up good for you if you do it.
Big pool of blood on the floor? Yeah, let someone else do it.
Everything in between is a matter of degree.
I agree.