Don't Let The Happy Endings Fool You

[Capt_Picard 0]

Ken's Commentary: Don't Let The Happy Endings Fool You

 

March 6, 2006

 

By Ken Schram

 

SEATTLE - Everybody loves a happy ending, right?

 

So why am I left feeling NOT so happy?

 

Last Friday, a Marysville father left his car running and ran inside the house to get something.

 

He came out a short time later - just in time to see his car being driven away.

 

Oh yeah, did I mention that he'd left his 3-month-old son in the car?

 

Not to worry, because 25 minutes later, the car, and the baby, were found.

 

Happy ending.

 

The Friday before last, a Seattle couple was loading up their van for a bakery delivery.

 

While they were inside the business, someone jumped into their van and took off.

 

By the way, you should know that they'd left their 7-month-old daughter in the van.

 

No problem: Half hour later, cops find the van and the baby.

 

Happy ending.

 

I gotta wonder though: Did these parents accidentally take home a hospital prescription for stupid when their children were born?

 

Don't they even get a ticket for leaving their kids in danger?

 

Shouldn't they at least have to put a sticker on their child's forehead that says: "DO NOT LEAVE UNATTENDED!"?

 

I'd be willing to bet that these same folks would never, ever leave a stack of cash sitting on the front seat of their car while they ran inside to get something.

 

Hell no. They'd be too afraid someone would steal the money.

 

But when it comes to their kids, they'd rather bank on a happy ending.

 

Pretty damn dumb.

 

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

So, what do you think?

[Kor37 9]

I agree with Ken. A mere ticket is too lenient for these parents that leave small children unattended.

[Charface 0]

I agree the parents need to accept some kind of responsibility for these situations. I remember hearing a while back about some kids who were being dropped off by their parents at Peter Piper Pizza. The parents would drop off the kids with a handful of money, go about their business shopping or whatnot, and then come back and pick their kids up a few hours later. Disgusting behavior by any means.

 

All I can hope is that these kinds of horror stories only make me a better parent when the time comes.

[trekz 7]

I agree that the parents should at least face a ticket. Perhaps they should have required parenting classes. Of course, people are required to get a license to drive, but not to be parents!

 

People just don't get the concept that young children need supervision. Working in public libraries for the last couple decades, it is often a struggle with some parents to get it through their minds that children under third grade need to be supervised in the library. I caught a three year old already on the sidewalk outside the library last fall. Mom was changing his brother in the bathroom. They just need to be watched constantly and parents need to know and remember that all the time.

[youbroughtheryouRiker 2]

Yeesh.

[Odie 0]

Everyone seems to fast to judge. There are times when a parent packs their kids in the car and they forget something in the car. Since they know where that object is in the house and it would take less time just to get that object than to get the child out of the car sit and put child back it the sit. Many parents do it all the time. My parents did it when I was a kid. As far as the baking van the parents where loading the van that might they where walking from the van and to the store all the time. They might have though the child was much safer in the van than in the store by his/herself. There are lots more dangers places in the store for 7 month old by themselves. I see it as no win situation for the parents.

 

Until you have childern or have watch large group of children no matter how much effect and how much you watch the children there alway be a time when 3 years old who leaves the parent or doing something they are not allow to do. Their mother or father could just turn her back for a second to pick up an object or another child and something can happen.

Edited March 9, 2006 by Odie

[Theunicornhunter 2]

In a city near where I live a woman took her daughter to the doctor leaving her husband and two year son in the car. The dad fell asleep while letting the baby crawl about the car - while dad was snoozing the child strangled himself with the electric window. Will dad live in his own private hell for the rest of his life? probably - was what he did careless? yes.

 

Cars & babies are not a good mix - if you're in your driveway and have to run back in - turn off and lock the car and take the keys and make sure the kids are strapped in. Dont' let a kid crawl about a car unless you're there awake to watch him/her. Not all driveways are equal - a townhouse in a crowded city is a far different thing than single family home on acreage.

 

As for loading up a van - the baby should be the last "item" taken out to the car - Odie, I agree that people without children may not know what it is like but children shouldn't be left alone in a vehicle. That seven month old baby would be fine sitting in the little carrier which separates from the car seat watching the parents run back and forth loading stuff up. Usually they haven't figured out how to spring themselves yet - at that age.

[Odie 0]

Maybe the parents should have taken the key out of the car and it might not happen. If you say the baby might be safer outside the van it doesn't stop a person from kidnapping the child. Either the child is the store or not. It just takes a second for something to happen. Just a second and have a private hell for the rest of their lives. I would have put the baby first in the van, but the keys would not be in van and stage it so one parent is in the store and other is the van. I have load vans before doing this. It would seem the parents didn't do it. Or maybe they just turn their back for that second while they where outside. There is little information to go in Ken's article to judge the person.

Edited March 10, 2006 by Odie

[mj 7]

I agree with Odie. I do not think if people are going back and forth to the house or store that they anticipate a car-jacking. Crime is not the same everywhere.

 

When I first moved to where I live now, I found out through a casual conversation with a neighbor that she tended to leave her purse in the shopping cart and walk around the aisle to pick up a thing she missed in an earlier aisle. I started watching women in the stores where I shopped. I noticed that a lot of women doing the same thing. The area was low-crime enough, where women weren't losing enough purses to be defensive. I am from a part of the country were no women in her right mind would leave her purse in the shopping cart. But crime was not severe enough at the time to warrant a more defensive outlook for some people. ( now 13 years later, I see less of it.)

 

We had a public service announcement about two or three years ago (VERY recently) from the local police that went something like this: " the thieves have come up with a new scheme. They watch as you come out to warm up your cars, and when you go back into your house or apartment, they jump into the car, and drive it away. We could stop this if you would lock your cars before you went back into your home."

 

You might sneer at what to you may seem such an obvious thing to do, but some people do not live like they are under seige, and have some outlook that trusts their neighbors somewhat. When I first moved here the local police were saying 'we can reduce auto theft in the summer if you would simply roll up your windows and lock your doors when not in your vehicle.' When I visited a friend who lived near Newark 12 years ago, every car in Newark had one of those 'club' things on the steering wheel. The people in these two parts of the country have a completely different mind sets.

 

Depending on where these families come from, it may not have seemed a risk to to dash in and quickly get something with the car in park and the child strapped in. There are probably thousands of times a day when this causes no problem. I do not think the parents warrant severe judgement.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

According to Florida State Statute:

 

FSS 316.6135 Leaving children unattended or unsupervised in motor vehicle; penalty; authority of law enforcement officer.

 

No parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for a child younger than 6 years of age shall leave such child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle for a period in excess of 15 minutes; however, no such person shall leave a child unattended for any period of time if the motor vehicle is running or the health of the child is in danger.

 

And - carjacking isn't the only issue:

Q2: Who founded Kids In Cars?

 

A2: Terrill and Michele Struttmann founded Kids in Cars in 1999 after two toddlers, left unattended in a running vehicle, set it in motion and killed the Struttmann’s 2-year-old son, Harrison. The Struttmanns have since devoted their lives to preventing similar accidents.