I went to Burger King today and enjoyed my small meal. When I walked outside, I saw a boy about two years old wandering around the perimeter of a large area. I have a two year old daughter and I know what a toddler getting lost looks like. Based on the sad state of kidnapping and molestation charges in this country, I wasn’t about to pick him up. I ask everyone around if it was their child. Nope.
I followed the child over a small bridge over a creek into the large parking lot while asking everyone in ear-shot if the toddler was theirs. Nope.
He went into the edge of the parking lot and them decided to dart into a major road. I went into a dead sprint and stopped traffic on both sides and cars came to a screeching halt. I chased him as he ran to the parking lot across the street. I grabbed him and carried him back into the Burger King. I went over to his parent’s to explain what had just happened.
They gave pause at the table and went on conversing with the other people at the table. I didn’t want even so much as a thank you. I just wanted shock based upon the fact that their son almost died because of their stupidity.
I would have put them in jail instantly on the spot if that were one of my superpowers. I hate people sometimes,
I think Shag assumed if the kid was outside, the parents were probably nearby. And when it became clear that nobody outside owned the kid, it stands to reason that they would be inside (unless they had driven off, in which case the best thing would have been to call the cops from inside).
Agree with your tactics, Shag…the least intervention possible till it’s required. ^5 and props! Unfortunately the future doesn’t bode well for a child whose parents are that stupid.
Dude, it’s a kid, not a bundle of genetic material. A 2 yr old who parents are not freaking out that he was missing and almost got run over needs all the help he can get, because just because his parents are dumb doesn’t mean he has nothing to offer, if he can live long enough to offer it.
There was your first mistake. If you let the fear of what might happen stop you from doing what you know is the right thing, you’ve already started making bad choices.
For as smart as you think you are in your wildest dreams, you seem to lack critical thinking skills. I can see why you are know longer with Myth Busters.
Burger King is a fast food restaurant. I already asked if he belonged to anyone outside everywhere I could. The only other place is inside and it isn’t huge. You can just let a toddler wander under under supervision and they will find their parents.
Do you have any kids? I would guess not because you seem to have no grasp on how they work either.
All my stories are true BTW. I am still shaking (literally) many hours later
Well, there is the parking lot of Burger King and then there is the part that leads to the road. I didn’t want to grab a small child and wander around with him until he was in serious trouble and that happens quickly. My two year old daughter almost made it into the street just after I took her out of her car seat while I was taking her older sister out. I had to do a dead sprint for that as well. Toddlers are fast, unpredictable, and diabolical. That is why parenting small kids is so hard. Older kids are as well but at least they don’t try to commit suicide every 5 minutes.
I already said it. It is a stand-alone restaurant. I asked everyone I could outside find if he was their child. It isn’t like there were dozens of people outside. Once he was pulled out of the road, the only logical place was inside which isn’t huge restaraunt. If you have any kids you would know that toddlers sometimes wonder but they still know their family. All you have to do is guide them and let them wander and they will recognize their family and their family will recognize them. It happens every day in large store like Wal-Mart.
I an always amazed at the SDMB for picking apart simple stories. Maybe it is my Southern derived writing style but this one is very straightforward.
Toddler wanders off.
I recognize that something is something is wrong because I know what a lost small child looks like because I am a parent.
I follow him around to make sure he is safe but I don’t want to pick him up because that could be a problem for me. Maybe I should have taken the risk sooner but for all I knew, his family could get him at any second.
He runs into a major road faster than I was prepared for. I have to do something so I run into the road and grab him. .
We go inside. I let him wander. The place isn’t that big. He finds his parents.
I tell them what happened and they don’t seem to care;.
Shagnasty I generally don’t let my daughter get outside of the store that I am in, but if it ever happens I hope someone like you is concerned enough to care. I’ll take what you say at face value and I don’t see it as being that hard to comprehend. That is a really terrifying prospect to meet up with parents who are apathetic to their child’s well-being.
I was at a festival in the woods recently and there was this kid who would get lost from his parents within sight of them. My wife helped him find his parents and then twenty minutes later I saw him wandering again like he was lost only to see his Mom emerge from the crowd about two minutes later to claim him. She seemed relatively unconcerned. My assumption with that one though was that she is used to this kid having trouble identifying her in a crowd and is generally more aware of his location than he is. She was literally within 10 feet of him when he was acting lost. I felt bad for that kid.
My daughter likes to range, she will take off, but she is pretty good at keeping an eye on us as well. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and I hope my estimation of that is accurate.
I’m almost positive I know the Burger King he’s talking about (the bridge is pretty memorable. pretty and memorable, actually), and there really isn’t much else around - it’s one of those places most stopped at by weary travelers on their way to somewhere else. I think there’s a hotel somewhat down the road, but odds are really great that a small child there came from there. It’s small enough inside - probably fewer than a dozen tables - to notice someone sheparding your child, so it should have become apparent to the parents almost the minute they came into the door that their neglected child had returned with adult in tow. If you’re familiar with the location, it doesn’t at all strain credibility.
