While in the grocery store checkout line I saw and heard two little kids running amok across the front of the store. One was taking all the carriages out of line and sending them flying across the floor. The other was taking a running start and then falling to the floor as if sliding into home plate. There was not an apparent adult in charge to be seen.
The clerk and the bagger made a comment about the behavior of the children and asked me my opinion. We were each about twenty years apart so I thought they wanted the senior point of view. I said it was annoying what they were doing but what bothered me most was that there was no one there to put a stop to it. Kids have to be taught appropriate behavior which is impossible to do if no one is there to see it and they have to be constantly watched for safety's sake..
When I was finished checking out and on my way out of the store I saw a woman entering with a one year old on her hip. She was yelling at the two kids to stop in a voice that spoke volumes on frustration. I have walked a mile or two or three in her shoes so I recognized the voice.
BUT, and I mean BUT, she had left those kids alone for at least ten minutes. One or both of those kids could have been snatched up in a flash! In my mind there is no excuse for putting one's kids in danger. No matter what the circumstances, the adult should have the kids by their side for sheer protection purposes, if not to keep them from tearing a store apart.
I so strongly believe that there is no circumstance that could ever be used to rationalize why kids were left alone and placed in danger. "I had to go to my car." is not going to hold water if a child is abducted.
I will now get off my soapbox and get on with life. I know I am not solving the world's problems but I am attacking them one brick at a time.
Keep it simple and keep it safe, folks.
The clerk and the bagger made a comment about the behavior of the children and asked me my opinion. We were each about twenty years apart so I thought they wanted the senior point of view. I said it was annoying what they were doing but what bothered me most was that there was no one there to put a stop to it. Kids have to be taught appropriate behavior which is impossible to do if no one is there to see it and they have to be constantly watched for safety's sake..
When I was finished checking out and on my way out of the store I saw a woman entering with a one year old on her hip. She was yelling at the two kids to stop in a voice that spoke volumes on frustration. I have walked a mile or two or three in her shoes so I recognized the voice.
BUT, and I mean BUT, she had left those kids alone for at least ten minutes. One or both of those kids could have been snatched up in a flash! In my mind there is no excuse for putting one's kids in danger. No matter what the circumstances, the adult should have the kids by their side for sheer protection purposes, if not to keep them from tearing a store apart.
I so strongly believe that there is no circumstance that could ever be used to rationalize why kids were left alone and placed in danger. "I had to go to my car." is not going to hold water if a child is abducted.
I will now get off my soapbox and get on with life. I know I am not solving the world's problems but I am attacking them one brick at a time.
Keep it simple and keep it safe, folks.
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