I just almost ran over a whole flock of small children as I was leaving work today.
I got in my Suburban, checked all the mirrors, and started to back out of the parking spot. Suddenly, the side door on the minivan parked next to me opened all by itself. That scared me, so I stopped. It was a good thing I did. I heard a Mommy-voice saying, "No no no, you don't run out into the parking lot without me!"
There were at least six of them, one a toddler being held by the hand of an older child. The oldest could not be more than five, and not a one of them was tall enough to be seen in any of my mirrors.
I had to pull over and shake and cry for a while before I could drive home.
I'm sorry, lady, but that was not the time for "No no no." It was time to be whaling on the lot of them with a flip flop and really yelling. It was time for, "How DARE you run away from me! Do you realize that lady could have hit you with her car, and it would HURT you very badly! Worse than the time you fell off your tricycle! Worse than when you fell off the top of the slide! Do you remember that? If this is how you are going to behave, we can't go to Gattiland again! EVER!"
I'm searching my mind to see what I could have done, and the only thing I can see is if I go over to the Gattiland entrance and retrace my steps to my car from there. The mom must have been behind some huge truck or other, in the next row of parking spaces, and the kids just ran on ahead.
I am still shaking.
Oh, yeah, I hear you. That weekend I had family in town (our goddaughter and her parents), I was seething by the time they left. The sheer number of times her mother said "Oh, I'm sorry, I just wasn't -watching- her..." (complete with near-Trimmerbackian voice, I swear) left me a nervous wreck. An -angry- nervous wreck. There's the fact that kids are just fast...but then there's just sheer blindness. Grr.
ReplyDeleteWhen Chandra first let us know she could roll over, she was on the couch, and I was across the room. I still caught her before she hit the floor.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if we don't watch our own children, why in the world should we expect others to?
Yesterday I went to a carwash. The car in front of me offloaded what looked like a daycare center of 3 to 5 YOs. The "carer" marched ahead like the queen herself as her charges trailed behind like a scraggly tail. IN A CARWASH! Cars were zipping out of the wash and delivered to the men who dry them and I held my breath as they crossed the main street on their way to MacDonalds.
ReplyDeleteGBoo
Good morning, GrnadmaBoo!
ReplyDeleteI am continually appalled at the lack of care I see people give their kids! The lady yesterday must have had somebody else's as well as her own. I'm still getting shivers, just thinking about it!
My daughter was discovered walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of our street, when she was 3 years of age.
ReplyDeleteI thought she was with my Mom, my Mom thought she was with me. My Dad was working on his car and she had made her way up the garage steps and out through the garage door. She knew where they sold the sweets!
When we realised she wasn't in the house, my Mom screamed "Look outside, if she's still in the house, she is safe".
An old lady found her and was bringing her back along the street. Boy! Were we lucky!
I'll bet you were terrified! But I'll also bet it didn't happen again. Hopefully yesterday ws that wkeup call for the mom that was herding the flock of little ones yesterday!
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day, I'll write about the time Chandra got away. If I haven't already!
Sounds like everyone's guardian angel was on their job. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteA few years back I was in Chicago O'Hare airport going down a rather long and steep escalator. Ahead of me was a woman and a boy who couldn't have been older than two. He was in stocking feet and could barely reach the handrail while she had both hands firmly on the stroller. He was dancing around and almost slipped when I said to her "Please don't let him do that." She grabbed his hand and yelled at him. Like HE should have known better. Sheesh.
You're lucky she didn't yell at you!
ReplyDeleteChandra got fired from Thundercloud because some lady sat her toddler up on the counter, and he started pushing tip jars and cookie containers all over the place. Glass things. Chandra suggested to the mother that it wasn't a good idea to let him push things around, and the woman complained that she was rude.
The title says it all. So sorry you had to experience that...
ReplyDelete