# Man Left Granddaughter, 5, in Desert With Loaded Gun **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545 "2015-11-03T18:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/41 "2015-11-04T12:49:33Z")
Well, at least he didn’t leave her with a hacksaw, handcuffed to a burning car. ---
**Author:** ![katpohl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@katpohl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katpohl)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/42 "2015-11-04T14:26:58Z")
My apologies for not posting a link to the news source for this story . The reason I was distracted and obviously didn’t put the attention required to proof read before submitting a post. is simple , Her name is Verna , she is 7 years old and I’m lucky enough to her grandma . Her and her mom walked in just about the time I was finishing typing the post . I’m easily distracted by her blues eyes and pretty smile . :o I’ve come up with 3 choices an adult with half the brains nature gave a piss ant would have chosen from , 1,carry her , after all he’s in his early 50 's . 2,sit her down in my shade for a bit when she said she was tired 3,wait for someone to miss us and come looking Leaving her there alone with a loaded and cocked (with a round in the chamber) fire arm ,is just so far south of left field it’s inconceivable to me. IMO, grandpa should be taken twice as far out in that desert ,past where he left that baby girl under a tree .He would l abandoned there with the same fire arm he left with the girl , It would have just one chambered round . And grandpa would be instructed to shoot ’ the bad guy ’ . ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/43 "2015-11-04T14:54:37Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, at least he didn’t leave her with a hacksaw, handcuffed to a burning car. Well apparently he was mad. . ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/44 "2015-11-04T14:57:59Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > Still, is ray-der right or is it ray-ter which is what it is spelled like? It just depends on how much you enunciate the “t.” [Merriam Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rater) gives the phonetic spelling as ˈrā-tər but the audio sounds like “ray-der,” exactly like the newscast. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/45 "2015-11-04T15:14:01Z")
> [@katpohl](#): > > south of left field Center field? ---
**Author:** ![katpohl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@katpohl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katpohl)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/46 "2015-11-04T21:09:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Center field? When something or some one comes “out of left field” . it’ / they starts out crazy and stays crazy ,. When it/they start from south of left field , that crazy invented crazy . Like this grandpa who leaves a child of five out in the desert with a loaded fire arm while he goes for a burger and beer , if ‘south of left field’ were in a dictionary , it would be a picture of him . ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/47 "2015-11-04T22:23:12Z")
But if a left-handed pitcher is a “southpaw,” it suggests that left field is over his _right_ shoulder, to the _north_. So “south of left field” should be center field. If you want your idiom to imply that it’s so far from left field that it isn’t even in fair territory, it should be _north_ of left field. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/48 "2015-11-04T22:34:20Z")
Actually, in [most MLB ballparks](http://www.hardballtimes.com/lost-in-the-sun-the-physics-of-ballpark-orientation/), “south of left field” would be the infield. That might’ve been on Grampa’s mind when he toddled off to the tavern. I suspect he was just looking for a relief pitcher. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/49 "2015-11-04T22:39:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > But if a left-handed pitcher is a “southpaw,” it suggests that left field is over his _right_ shoulder, to the _north_. So “south of left field” should be center field. > > If you want your idiom to imply that it’s so far from left field that it isn’t even in fair territory, it should be _north_ of left field. But if a left-handed boxer is a “southpaw” it doesn’t suggest this at all. Maybe they were using it as a boxing metaphor? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/50 "2015-11-04T22:54:30Z")
> [@katpohl](#): > > When something or some one comes “out of left field” . it’ / they starts out crazy and stays crazy ,. When it/they start from south of left field , that crazy invented crazy . I cheerfully admit I’ve never heard the version of the idiom that goes “_south_ of left field”, though I’ve heard “south” and “left field” independently as parts of metaphors for irrationality or unexpectedness. I would not normally comment on a mixed metaphor, but I felt I had to take the bull by the horns of a dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/51 "2015-11-05T00:50:06Z")
For katpohl: Buffalo Bill ’s defunct who used to ride a watersmooth-silver stallion and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat Jesus he was a handsome man and what i want to know is how do you like your blue-eyed boy Mister Death ``` -- e e cummings ``` ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/52 "2015-11-05T00:55:54Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Now I have [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIiZ3vvZ78s) stuck in my head, with slightly different lyrics. > > "Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, Obamaphone… What, just now? 😃 I’ve had that damn song going through my head every time I’ve seen or heard mention of Obamaphones, which presumably started back in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/53 "2015-11-05T00:58:00Z")
> [@vd](#): > > I guess 5-year-olds can’t profile well enough. The only thing that can stop a bad toddler with a gun is a _good_ toddler with a gun! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/54 "2015-11-05T14:11:21Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > That might’ve been on Grampa’s mind when he toddled off to the tavern. I suspect he was just looking for a relief pitcher. Consuming four beer, it sounds like he just about got his full pitcher of relief. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/55 "2015-11-05T15:01:06Z")
It sounds like the toddler let the regiment down, and he was expecting her to do the [honorable thing](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LeaveBehindAPistol). But she was apparently a cad and a bounder. Regards, Shodan, Old Sock, Old Bean, By Gad, The Deuce You Say ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/56 "2015-11-05T21:54:45Z")
If he’d left her a grenade, she could have blown up some bad guys along with herself. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545/57 "2015-11-05T22:11:09Z")
Any word on if Grandma has kicked his sorry ass to the curb yet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-left-granddaughter-5-in-desert-with-loaded-gun/736545.md?page=2)