What Would You Have Done?

[Michelle]

Believe me I'm kicking myself over the "what if it wasn't her kid " too.
This kid looked just like the other kids and the lady.
Until you are in this situation, it's hard to say what you would do.
I had 911 called on my phone, I was about to push send when she came up to me. Calling 911 after she got him and my nice LONG lecture about keeping him safe..would have been just revenge, in my opinion.
But if this happens again I would definitely call the police because you all have a good point. This has probably happened before with her.

[Michael]

That is child neglect. 20 month old, 10 minutes in a parking lot? That child could have easily been killed. I would have driven the child to the police station.

What's done is done. I would not worry about it unless you could somehow find this person again. You could still fill out a police report if it makes you feel better.

[QualiTcare]

Seriously, what does this have to do with the situation.....and on a bigger note, why on earth would you say something like this. There are all walks of people who work at fast food.....many of whom in our area has lost their jobs in this economy due to no fault of their own......and because they choose to work at fast food to put food on their table does not put them in the "not intelligent" group. Gees.

i agree.

i worked at a fast food place all during high school (after i turned 16 anyway) and on and off through college. nothing ticked me off more than when a customer would speak to me condescendingly. people just expect anyone who works in a fast food place to be "stupid" and they have no problem treating them as such. i have friends still today who i met while working there and they may not be educated or rich, but they are by no means stupid. that doesn't mean there aren't stupid people who work in fast food joints, but there are stupid people working everywhere.

[QualiTcare]

i disagree with contacting the manager or 'reporting' any of the employees/management about the situation. since when did people not taking care of their children become a fast food employee's responsibility? maybe in an ideal world an employee would've jumped over the counter and saved the day, but the question of "why" an employee didn't react, call the police, etc. is the same question that can be asked of you or any other bystander. the responsibility lies on the mother of the child and her alone. not you OR any employee of the restaurant. besides, it's over, so what good could come from reporting the manager?

[Michelle]

That is child neglect. 20 month old, 10 minutes in a parking lot? That child could have easily been killed. I would have driven the child to the police station.

What's done is done. I would not worry about it unless you could somehow find this person again. You could still fill out a police report if it makes you feel better.

I know!! oh my gosh,
If I see her again, I will write down her license plate and call dpss
she left so fast, the police would not have caught up to her anyway.
If I would have withheld her child from her she could have said that I was kidnapping him. And yes, i know I could have told them about the parking lot and the ten minutes of her neglect.
I had a lot of my kids with me and I was responsible for their safety too.
They were my number one priority at the time.
I think I did possibly save a life that day and I think that's what's important.
I am so glad that we are discussing this.
Now, everyone can know ahead of time the right thing to do but not every situation is the same so we have to think fast on our feet and protect these children.
For instance, say, you were driving down the street and you saw a bunch of gang bangers fighting and a 2 year old alone standing in street screaming "daddy" would you pick up that child and stand there to call the police while your dck's are in your van?
If you saw a 3 year old crossing a major street alone while all your kids are sleeping in the house, would you leave them alone to save the child?
I know I had my assistant with me at Burger King and maybe these aren't good examples but they CAN happen and we have to honestly think what we would do in that instant! I honestly have never seen anybody act so stupid , so now I am ready to save another life and make sure this doesn't happen again... now I'm rambling ..... 12 kids today::::

[Michelle]

i disagree with contacting the manager or 'reporting' any of the employees/management about the situation. since when did people not taking care of their children become a fast food employee's responsibility? maybe in an ideal world an employee would've jumped over the counter and saved the day, but the question of "why" an employee didn't react, call the police, etc. is the same question that can be asked of you or any other bystander. the responsibility lies on the mother of the child and her alone. not you OR any employee of the restaurant. besides, it's over, so what good could come from reporting the manager?

Hey, wow, you are right!
That mother was responsible for her own child?
jeez, what a novel concept..::::::
Thank you, i feel so much better...hugs
You know what they say, you have to pass a test to get your drivers license...

[QualiTcare]

Hey, wow, you are right!
That mother was responsible for her own child?
jeez, what a novel concept..::::::
Thank you, i feel so much better...hugs
You know what they say, you have to pass a test to get your drivers license...

that's cute and everything, but my point was (which i thought was clear) that even if a parent doesn't take responsibility for their child, it doesn't default to the business owner. it's a little different than finding a pair of sunglasses in and turning them in at the lost and found than it is finding a kid OUTSIDE and turning it in. by reporting the employees, you not only let the mother "get away" with her behavior, but someone else is going to take heat FOR her.

[Michelle]

that's cute and everything, but my point was (which i thought was clear) that even if a parent doesn't take responsibility for their child, it doesn't default to the business owner. it's a little different than finding a pair of sunglasses in and turning them in at the lost and found than it is finding a kid OUTSIDE and turning it in. by reporting the employees, you not only let the mother "get away" with her behavior, but someone else is going to take heat FOR her.

I did not let the mother get away, I had 6 of my own kids that I was responsible for.
They were my first priority.
Even if I did successfully call 911, I would have been put on hold (those of you in Ca. know what I'm talking about), then I would have got the police and I would have told them the baby was with his mother, then they would have come 30 minutes later and she would have been gone by then.
The reason why i started this thread was first of all I was in total shock from what just happened and curious as to what you guys would have done.
It's really easy to play Monday morning quarterback.

One time we heard someone outside our window and I called 911 and the police didn't come for 25 minutes. a friend told me next time to tell them you see something that looks like a gun in their hand, then they will come fast
Also, I don't believe it helpful to report the employees , at that split second I just thought they should know in case they knew someone was looking for him and then asked them to call so I wouldn't have to from my cell phone. Landlines are better when it comes to 911

I'm just glad everything turned out right and I'm glad I was there to help this baby but regret posting it on here now.
I will stick to talking about laundry soap and toys, I guess

[sharlan]

..........It's really easy to play Monday morning quarterback................

Isn't that the truth?

[Michelle]

That is child neglect. 20 month old, 10 minutes in a parking lot? That child could have easily been killed. I would have driven the child to the police station.

What's done is done. I would not worry about it unless you could somehow find this person again. You could still fill out a police report if it makes you feel better.

Just one more thing, , I don't know how long he was in the parking lot until I saw him, but I RAN to get him as soon as I saw him and he was with me for about ten minutes til his mom came up to me. I could not have driven him to the police station, I had 7 other people with me and an 8 passenger minivan. Some of my kids were in the toy, some were still eating...
Neglect on the mother? yep! and I will keep my eye out for her.

[Kaddidle Care]

Finally this lady just walked over to me and said oh, he's my baby!
She took him and went back to her table to continue he intense conversation with her friend. After I chewed her out and told her I found him in the parking lot and I had him for at least 10 minutes...she acted like she couldn't speak English and walked away. I'm thinking I should have still called the police anyway but hence sight is always 20/20 He looked very clean, well dressed and healthy along with the 5 other 3-4 year olds she had with her.
But I keep beating myself up over this, what would you have done?

I probably would have stood there with my jaw dropped just like you did. It's absolutely shocking that someone cared so little for that little boy.

I couldn't help but think that perhaps the children weren't hers and she could care less about them. Wow, just wow!

Thank goodness you were a good person and got him out of the parking lot. You did the right thing. I'm pretty appalled that you got a "smile" when you asked an employee to call the police. I wonder if the employee understood English. You might mention it to the Manager and if it bothers you enough, call the non-emergency line of the police and see what they suggest about it. Chances are they may have some footage of the event at the restaurant IF they had their cameras on.

[Michelle]

I probably would have stood there with my jaw dropped just like you did. It's absolutely shocking that someone cared so little for that little boy.

I couldn't help but think that perhaps the children weren't hers and she could care less about them. Wow, just wow!

Thank goodness you were a good person and got him out of the parking lot. You did the right thing. I'm pretty appalled that you got a "smile" when you asked an employee to call the police. I wonder if the employee understood English. You might mention it to the Manager and if it bothers you enough, call the non-emergency line of the police and see what they suggest about it. Chances are they may have some footage of the event at the restaurant IF they had their cameras on.

I was shocked! It was something that you don't do every day.
When I take care of children, it is the most important thing on earth to me to keep them safe. Our policy with a baby that young is direct supervision with eyes on them at all time, especially in public.
They tend to wonder off at this age.