Did any of you watch Nancy Grace tonight?
(Yeah, OK...she annoys me, too, but I watch her anyway)
Some guy, my age, slapped the snot out of a toddler...right in front of the baby's mother. He didn't know the child, or the mother. He apparently STALKED them through the store, first telling the mother that if she couldn't shut the child up, he would. Then, when the little girl didn't stop crying right away, he walked up and slapped her four or five times across the face.
Cleveland.com article about the incident.
Now, OK, when my kids were obnoxious anywhere, I tried to get them out of wherever we were when the fit was pitched. I was embarrassed. I know how the crying of a toddler makes me feel. However, the fact remains that sometimes it's just not possible. Mothers of young children have a lot to do in a small amount of time. There are times when one has to Carry On, Regardless.
Just what is wrong with this guy, that he thinks he has the right to slap a child? In what universe could that possibly be considered OK? I have been known to go where angels fear to tread, and actually confront parents I thought were being too rough on their own children...I would be totally gobsmacked to see a stranger lift a hand to my child, under any circumstances.
Everyone has a reasonable expectation of safety in a place like that. And everybody should expect that into their life a squalling child will fall. It happens, like a fart in an elevator. You just have to pull up your underoos and get over it.
We are devolving into cretins.
Please pass the popcorn.
I read this story as well. I admit, I have admonished young kids to give their mothers a break already (and that seems to work, they get embarrassed).
ReplyDeleteTo SLAP a child that isnt your just crosses a border that the line should not have even been crossed.
Obviously that guy has major issues. I assume that is a picture of him at the top of your post, right? The crazed, self righteous glare in his eyes is obvious.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the authorities will lock this guy up tight and get a psychiatrist to evaluate him.
[shudder]
I agree with Allison, he needs psychiatric evaluation. Hopefully, he was just off his meds that day and will be put back on them before anything worse happens to anyone else. Maybe he NEEDS meds. I hate to rely on that excuse, but if it keeps him from being maniacal, then that's OK.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need MORE people stuffed into prisons. What he did was bad, but worse things happen to kids and those criminals are the ones who should get locked up first, imho.
I realize that worse things can happen to children, but this is egregious. I agree that he need psych eval, but he does need to realize that what he did was a criminal act. Just because he didn't kidnap and molest her doesn't mean she was not traumatized.
ReplyDeleteIf he walked up to you in Walmart and bitch-slapped you, you'd be charging him with assault. Which, I might add, carries a tougher penalty than the Felony Injury to a Child with which he has been charged.
The whole thing must have happened very fast, or else the mother was totally shocked, and couldn't believe what he was doing. I would have SO grabbed my baby and run like hell for the customer service counter!
"Major issues" is true, in spades, and he may need some sort of medication, but what he mostly needs is anger control. Screaming kids get on my last nerve, too, but I just go home and write a blog entry about it. It would never occur to me to attack somebody else's child!
It was a criminal act and deserves a criminal punishment.
There is no pecking order to who should be locked up and who shouldn't. ANYONE who attacks anyone commits an assault and needs to be punished. the fact that the victim is a BABY exacerbates the crime.
Where where the other customers and employes in the store. You may not feal comfortable for many of us to get between such a man and his target
ReplyDeletebut we can raise enough hell to bring enough people to stop such action. How about taking pictures with your phone. If the authorites are not interested there is always the internet. I'm sure there are legal ways to bring enough pressure tp get his attentiom. Iknow your blog is helping with that,
Betty
From what I read, Betty, it happened so fast that nobody had a chance to react. That, and it was so unexpected...
ReplyDelete