scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

[bigdirty]

Not that i agree with mass media hype and think we should all live in fear, of everything and everyone but lets face it; it can be a dangerous and ugly world out there sometimes.. and things can happen quickly, kids can disappear or be hurt in a second... Then this happened the other day and it blew my mind;

Was out with a buddy, we went into a store, and while he waited in line at the checkout I went outside for a cigarette. Standing by myself about 10 feet from the store entrance/exit, and a woman walks out with two small boys. One shes holding (2-3 perhaps) and another about 5 following beside her. Keep in mind this is a fairly busy strip mall with a parking lot out front, and regular traffic.. but at the moment there is a lull, and its just me hanging around there by a wall.. And yes, she looked right at me, she saw me there clear as day. (I even moved another 10 feet away when I saw her come out of the store, seeing as I was smoking..) They walk towards me a few feet and towards the curb of the store front road/parking lot. She says to the older one "ok, just wait right here while mommy puts your brother and these things in the car, don't move ok? You stay put till mommy comes back." and proceeds to cross the roadway area and walk about 100 feet away, only to disappear behind a line of cars! :confusion: I cant believe i'm seeing this... The little boy who has now lost sight of his mother, quickly begins to get fidgety, and looks as though hes going to start making his way across the road. I can see a car has just turned from the main road and is coming towards me/this little boy but there are 2 foot square concrete supports for the building that the person in the car obviously cant see behind.. and guess where the little boy was told to stay? :facepalm:

In the span of maybe 10 seconds or so I weighed all the options... maybe the car will turn... maybe the mother will come back RIGHT NOW.... but it wasn't happening... and when I thought there was no time left, I had to act.. I was literally pushing myself off the wall to go and grab this kid by the back of his hood or whatever i could, cause he was going.. and i could just see it all ending bad.. THAT was when the mother FINALLY popped out from behind a parked minivan and started back towards the store front. I guess the boy saw her, and to his credit he remembers to 'stay put' and brings his foot back onto the curb... Wheew.... so thankfully nothing terrible happened... the car drove by, and I stepped back, and leaned back on the wall... but it sure got my pulse going! The other thing, on top of this mothers first bonehead move, she obviously left the younger child unattended the car while she retrieved the older one!!

So here's what really gets me.. she gave ME a somewhat dirty look as she came back across the road, and quickly grabbed the boys hand and hurried off with him. It took all I had, not to say something to this woman..and it wouldn't have been nice... had she been 5-10 seconds later and no one was around, her son might have been run down by a car, maybe killed.. had she been 20 seconds later, I know I would have got to the kid in time, (it was 6-7 feet I would have had to cover) but she would be walking back to see a stranger grabbing her child!! ARRGH!!! :cold: Makes me sad for our society in general, where are we going.. and what happened to common sense? And how bad is it that I in fact WAITED till the last second to act, mainly out of FEAR of it looking like something wrong or evil?!? What a world..

 

[ezbtr]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

Glad YOUR eyes were open and you were ready!!! Oh and geez I'm sure she gave you a dirty look because you were smoking......is ok I do too

 

[bigdirty]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

:lol: nah, i tossed the butt as I was getting ready to lunge after the kid..

 

[ezbtr]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

:lol: nah, i tossed the butt as I was getting ready to lunge after the kid..

what cat like reflexes!!! GREAT job, glad no one got hurt!

 

[Grub54891]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I hear ya, saw a lady teaching her kid how to ride a bike on a busy street. Cars would have to stop or go around the both of them! Well I wasn't so nice....I gave her the lecture about safety,whats the kid going to learn about traffic,ext. the new sidewalk isn't good enough??
She seemed oblivious to my comment's.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

Take a look at my signature
|
|
|
|
|
V

 

[avenger79]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I would be more (or at least somewhat) concerned that she left her small child in the presence of a stranger. strange guy smoking agianst a wall of a building and you leave your child there?

lately I've seen some very questionable behavior by young parents. the guy swearing into the face of a 2ish yr old in a cart the other day.....then he looked up and seen me looking at him. got all quiet and grabbed wife/GF and says come on lets go.... all I could think of is "wonder what he'd do if I grabbed him by the collar and started spewing crap like that in his face" guess he answered it for me when he left so suddenly.

people seldom think more than 2 seconds ahead of what they are doing.

 

[gm280]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I think the reason she did leave her kid there was because she forgot to search her smart phone for the proper ways to deal with those circumstances. It still amazes me how so many can't live one second without their smart phones texting or stuck to their ears... I still wonder how civilization ever made it all these centuries without the modern gadgetries of these days? SMH!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I would be very curious as to why she would leave her kid in front of a store, with a strange guy standing right there?? (no offence) Maybe she had to sneak a hit off the crack pipe, maybe she just make's bone head choices all the time. But it does make you wonder why some folks make terribly bad choices like the examples shared here. You're liable if you help, and you would feel terrible if you did nothing.

It's getting to be a bad, an ugly kind of world IMO. Too bad we can't just live in simpler time's as I did growing up in the 60's. I actually feel bad for kids who don't get to do what I got to do. Fishing, exploring, gone all day, but home for dinner like clockwork.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

Kudos to you for watching out for the kid...and public shame on that women.
However, what you should have done is simply yelled at the kid to stay away from the cars and the street....loudly! That way if anyone was watching they would have witnessed this...and heard it even if they weren't watching. Then if you had to physically step in to grab him....things would have been more in your favour. Quietly grabbing anyone in public is not in your favour so never do it without a seriously loud verbal addition.
As for social danger....the kid, like most kids was in pretty much zero danger of being 'kidnapped' which is a load of modern baloney.:facepalm:
There are some statistics that show that it would take on average...about 10 years (not kidding!)...for a kid to be randomly kidnapped off a street corner today if just left there to his own devices. The same statistics show that kids are often substantially safer in public than in their own home with their family members...where there are several times more likely to be killed, hurt, abused, kidnapped or molested.
Kids are way safer today than when most of us were growing up.....but.....you wouldn't know it by falling victim to modern danger marketing or the amber alert business.
Again, good on ya' for watching out for him.
BP

 

[bigdirty]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I would be very curious as to why she would leave her kid in front of a store, with a strange guy standing right there?? (no offence) ...

heh.. ya, none taken, that's the first thing I thought too...

And as for yelling something, I actually thought about that, but worried it would frighten the kid and maybe CAUSE him to run..:facepalm:

 

[bruceb58]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I would probably run myself if I knew your nickname was bigdirty.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

I would probably run myself if I knew your nickname was bigdirty.

:facepalm: ok, ya, maybe not the best nickname to pick....


but its not like I walk around in public with that on a name tag.. :lol:

 

[Silly Seville]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

Here is another angle that I bet you didn't consider...imagine you were an uncaring piece of garbage instead of an upstanding citizen, and let the child run in front of the car. Child is killed, and the joke of a mother sues you for failure to act, causing the death of her child...because you know two things for certain. 1. There would be lawyers lining up to take her case, and 2. YOU were at fault for him dying, not her. She was just the poor mother, busy with her life, preoccupied and made a mistake. But YOU, you would be vilified. YOU would be the bad guy for NOT grabbing him. So here's the point everyone already sees coming. You're damned if ya do, and damned if ya do! There is no right or wrong anymore in this society. It truly is all relative to ones perspective.

 

[greenbush future]

Re: scary how some people are.. but what do you do right?

Here is another angle that I bet you didn't consider...imagine you were an uncaring piece of garbage instead of an upstanding citizen, and let the child run in front of the car. Child is killed, and the joke of a mother sues you for failure to act, causing the death of her child...because you know two things for certain. 1. There would be lawyers lining up to take her case, and 2. YOU were at fault for him dying, not her. She was just the poor mother, busy with her life, preoccupied and made a mistake. But YOU, you would be vilified. YOU would be the bad guy for NOT grabbing him. So here's the point everyone already sees coming. You're damned if ya do, and damned if ya do! There is no right or wrong anymore in this society. It truly is all relative to ones perspective.

I think I understand where you are coming from, but I will also bet ya a burger this just couldn't be. It's reaching at best, kind of sad to even debate don't you think?