Wednesday, May 30, 2012

It Takes A Village

So this happened Monday.

My cousin Julie and I had been out decorating family graves.  We stopped by Wendy's for a salad and
parked in their parking lot.  As we got out, I noticed a baby, in a van, back door open, windows opened,
unattended.  The baby looked to be about six-months old.  The weather was perfect, cool.  So,  no
babies left in a too-hot car.

Still.

I thought I needed to check.  There wasn't an adult in sight.  What there was . . .  was an eight-year-old little boy, hiding in the back seat.  (Third row)  He was frightened, so I told him that I was going to
stand there, that I wasn't coming closer, and that I was going to watch out for him and make sure both
kids were safe.  His response:  Yes!

My fears for them?  Kidnapping, a runaway, an accident, something  happening to the baby.  The parents?  They were inside Wendy's, having lunch with the third child, a little girl.  I'm still shaking my head over that one.  They bought food for the other two.

Wendy's?  A baby?

So, just how much is wrong with this scenario?
 
Andrew Vox, an attorney and a mystery writer, said, "There are two kinds of bad parents.  Parents who are malicious and intentional.  Those belong in jail."  And the others? "Parents who do not know better.  They belong in parenting classes." As they came out of Wendy's, they appear to be the latter.  But who knows for sure?  Certainly, they were young and  didn't have much money.

I did't say anything to them, and there's my issue.  I'm thinking I really missed an opportunity, but
I was also afraid of a conflict with people I didn't know.  I'm 64, white-haired.  My brother and his family suggested  that I should have called the cops.  I didn't.  But I still have that a nagging sensation. . .

What should I have done?

3 comments:

  1. I probably would have called the police. Not a safe situation in the world today. Nothing happened this time, but they will do it again and if something does happen, imagine the guilt that little boy will feel after that responsibility was placed on his little shoulders. It's wrong on too many levels. Sometimes, it takes an extreme act to open someone's eyes......even if they don't see it that way.

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  2. Thanks, Pammie, I'll keep the phone handy. Barb

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  3. Bad judgment by those parents to leave a baby and small child in a parking lot unsupervised. Boise isn't a small town anymore. They were lucky that you came across them instead of someone with bad intent. I think I would have called the police or Child Protection, while keeping an eye on the kids. I don't think I would have confronted the parents either. Too dangerous; you never know how people will react.

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