Have you ever confronted another parent for his/her reprehensible behavior?
I parked my car this afternoon next to another car which was running, windows down. I didn't think anything of it and went into a store. When I came out, I thought to look inside the car and saw a toddler strapped in a carseat in the back. The owner was nowhere to be seen. I went back into the store I had been in, its doors were open and you could see both my caar and the other car, to report it. The employees were apprehensive about calling the police. When the owner came back to the car, I slipped away. I went to another store around the corner. When I returned to my car, I saw the mom on her cellphone a few steps away from her car. She then went into one of the stores (!) again leaving her toddler in the vacant, running car.
I was cemented in my shoes and stood next to the car, waiting for the mom to return. An employee of the store I had been in saw me and came to talk to me. As we stood there, the mom and older child came out of the salon they were in and I heard the mom say, "let's go get a pastry. I'm going to grab brother first."
I got into my car and all the things I could have said or done boiled inside of me. I wanted to shake her!
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Anonymous
Jul 7, 2010
2 Answers
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0 votes
I think calling the police would have been the right thing to do. Although I would never leave my kids alone while I went to a store, I understand that different people have different levels of comfort about this and depending on where they are and the season and the age of the child, I'm not sure that's completely wrong. But if the child could unstrap herself, she could have gotten out of the car or knocked the car into gear or.... If she couldn't unstrap herself, she could have been strapped into her seat and not be able to get out if the car ran out of gas and started getting really hot or caught fire or.... I can't imagine leaving a young child in the car when it is so hot or cold that the engine has to be on.
But I would leave it for the police to handle. I once saw a child who was left in a car while his dad went into a restaurant(!) and he (the child) was trying to get out onto a busy street. I went over and stood in the street by the car and talked to the kid until his dad came out, screamed at me to get away from his car, and called me a "nosy white bitch" before dragging his child across the street yelling at him. He was threatening toward me and I was afraid he was going to hurt me. So the next time I will just call 911 and tell them that there is a child alone in a car and other details as necessary (trying to get out, windows rolled up, where the parent is, how long I know he's been there). And if I'm afraid the child will try to get out of the car into a busy street, I will position myself in a less obvious place so I am less likely to be attacked verbally or physically.
Anonymous
Jul 10, 2010
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0 votes
From what I've discovered on the internet, it's actually against the law (in California) to leave a child under the age of 6 in a car alone. The law is SB 255, otherwise known as "Kaitlyn's Law" - http://www.kidsandcars.org/ca_state_law.htm
If there ever is a next time, and so help me if it's the same woman, I will call the police.
Anonymous
Jul 10, 2010
