# Social media campaign grows to help mom who left baby in shopping cart **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2015, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478 "2015-08-31T06:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/1 "2015-08-31T06:17:52Z")
This is such an over reaction. The poor woman has 4 kids to keep up with and managed to forget the baby in a shopping cart. Not exactly the crime of the century and these pricks want to prosecute her for it? WTH? This isn’t unusual. I’ve seen several reports of parents stopping at a highway rest stop and leaving somebody behind. They get a few miles down the road and circle back to pick them up. A little blip on life’s highway. Nothing to prosecute over. #‎Istandwithcherish is the hash tag. getting quite a bit of support. The baby was in no danger. Certainly not for the short time mom was gone. She was in a very public area, safe in her basket. I think mom deserves a pass on this first mistake. Every mom gets a bit overwhelmed at times. Especially at a store. Each kid is tugging at you wanting to buy something. They get cranky. Things get hectic and it’s easy to make a mistake. It’s happened to me many times and I only had two daughters. Kids will wear you out. > **[Arizona News](https://www.azfamily.com/news/)** > > Arizona Breaking news, local stories, and On Your Side investigations from the state’s largest television newsroom. > [@](#): > > On that day, Cherish was with three of her four small children when she inadvertently forgot her 2-month-old baby boy in the shopping cart in front of the store. The baby was spotted almost immediately by an off-duty Phoenix police officer, who took the infant into a nearby Supercuts salon. Gilbert police say Peterson returned to look for her baby within 40 minutes when she realized her mistake. The boy was not injured. > > Gilbert police have forwarded a misdemeanor charge of child endangerment to the town prosecutor. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/2 "2015-08-31T06:26:11Z")
I think the worst that happened to me was losing my car keys. I’d been distracted correcting my oldest daughter’s tantrum and laid them on the car roof. I searched the parking lot, the store, and even called my wife to bring her set. Before finding those keys. :smack: All that drama because I wouldn’t buy a twinkie for my daughter and she threw one heck of a tantrum. Kids do that to parents every single day. There’s never a dull moment. I’d certainly give this stressed out mom a break for one mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/3 "2015-08-31T12:43:18Z")
Cherish? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/4 "2015-08-31T13:02:26Z")
Yeah, the overreaction to stuff like this is pretty ridiculous- I blame the internet, which allows anyone to overreact to anything, at any time. My mom once left me at her office; it was just a funny incident, certainly not worth prosecution. I read an article once about parents who’ve forgotten that they’d left a child in a car, and how their lives were pretty much destroyed. First, they’ve lost a child, something they’ll have to live with for the rest of their lives… then, for some reason, society feels like they need to be punished even more, as if they’d done it _on purpose_. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/5 "2015-08-31T13:20:34Z")
I admit I totally don’t get why people want to have 3 or 4 children, anyway - they always look frazzled and exhausted. But now that you’ve had them, well these things happen. I guess our parents are glad they didn’t raise us in the days of social media, either, considering every one of our mistakes are advertised. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/6 "2015-08-31T13:31:53Z")
So…are we supposed to be appalled by the police department’s over-reaction or social media’s over-reaction? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/7 "2015-08-31T13:38:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Cherish? Really? Perish is the word that more than applies To the hope in my heart each time I realize That I left the damn baby in the shopping cart ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/8 "2015-08-31T13:42:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Perish is the word that more than applies > To the hope in my heart each time I realize > That I left the damn baby in the shopping cart Thanks for that earworm this morning. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/9 "2015-08-31T16:41:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Perish is the word that more than applies > To the hope in my heart each time I realize > That I left the damn baby in the shopping cart I know a new social media shaming campaign we need to start. That was baaaad!!! ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/10 "2015-08-31T19:28:10Z")
Where I live we have a rather notorious Child Services department that has been at least partially responsible for a half-dozen preventable child abuse deaths in the last couple of years. What disturbs me is that they would be all over a one-time thing like this, but will drop the ball in cases where a child is repeatedly hospitalized for suspicious ‘accidents’ with the ‘excuse’ that they were never able to reach the custodial parent when they called. Our governmental authorities at all levels need to get their heads out of their posteriors and approach these events with some common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/11 "2015-08-31T21:03:38Z")
She left a baby in the sun for 40 minutes in Phoenix, and you think the kid was in no danger? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/12 "2015-08-31T21:08:46Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Yeah, the overreaction to stuff like this is pretty ridiculous- I blame the internet, which allows anyone to overreact to anything, at any time. My mom once left me at her office; it was just a funny incident, certainly not worth prosecution. > > I read an article once about parents who’ve forgotten that they’d left a child in a car, and how their lives were pretty much destroyed. First, they’ve lost a child, something they’ll have to live with for the rest of their lives… then, for some reason, society feels like they need to be punished even more, as if they’d done it _on purpose_. Do you think we only prosecute people who’s actions purposefully harm others? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/13 "2015-08-31T21:21:32Z")
Discretion should be used here. If she’s otherwise a responsible mother there’s no sense in prosecuting her. I can give the police the benefit of the doubt because they have to cover their own asses in case she turns out not to be such a great mom after all. We are creating a monster by blaming the government for not stopping child neglect and abuse, the government is merely responding to that. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/14 "2015-08-31T22:44:14Z")
There’s always a chance the prosecutor will show some decency and humanity. Drop the charges. There’s some room for discretion and common sense with charges like this. The intent of the mother and the circumstances makes a big difference. I think she’ll be a lot more careful in the future. CPS has a lot bigger and more important cases to focus on then a forgetful mom. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/15 "2015-09-01T01:00:12Z")
She’s being charged with a misdemeanor. That’s not a big thing- in the grand scheme of things- to worry about. Leaving her baby unattended for 40 or whatever minutes is a big thing to worry about. So sorry about the misdemeanor charges, but I’ll bet she never does that again. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/16 "2015-09-01T01:52:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > She left a baby in the sun for 40 minutes in Phoenix, and you think the kid was in no danger? Seriously? +1000 It’s fucking HOT here. That 108f or whatever you see reported in the weather is an “official” temperature in the shade away from radiating bodies. In a blacktop parking lot? Forget about it. 120f+. And 40 minutes? How do you lose a newborn for 40 minutes? Heat or not, that’s a long time to leave anything laying around in a parking lot, much less a human being. I’m sure she won’t get prosecuted. It disgusts me that being a White and Delightsome® Gilbert Mormon mom with a jillion Facebook followers puts her above the law. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/17 "2015-09-01T02:43:20Z")
Directly in front of a Supercuts and Grocery? A stream of people walking by? It was a given that someone would take the baby inside. Especially if it began crying. It’s not an ideal situation and the mom should have been more attentive to her baby. But mistakes happen. People switch into autopilot and sometimes that means overlooking stuff. I could see prosecuting her if this had happened before. Hopefully she’s learned a lesson the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/18 "2015-09-01T03:23:37Z")
It’s a misdemeanor. It’s not like they would put her in prison for 50 years for that or give her the death penalty or some other draconian punishment. Maybe the misdemeanor _is_ “learning her lesson the hard way,” but also not in such a way that her life will be destroyed or she will lose her kids. What kind of punishment would be given if a babysitter or nanny had accidentally left a 2-month-old in a cart in a parking lot for 40 minutes under the same circumstances as this mother? What kind of punishment would the public call for? Something tells me it would be harsher. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/19 "2015-09-01T12:11:58Z")
I do understand, somewhat, when a parent leaves a kid in the car because they’re on autopilot and they think they dropped the kid off at daycare. But where did Cherish think her kid was? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478/20 "2015-09-01T17:22:51Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Do you think we only prosecute people who’s actions purposefully harm others? A parent absentmindedly leaves their child in the car. There’s no evidence they did it on purpose- they’ve been, in all other ways, exemplary parents. What purpose does prosecution serve? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-media-campaign-grows-to-help-mom-who-left-baby-in-shopping-cart/729478.md?page=2)