What's going on with you, part II...

[pbrower2a]

I may have thwarted a crime yesterday: child endangerment. I was at a gas station for a fill-up, and I saw a boy between the ages of six and eight run away from his parents' (or whatever the combination was) SUV. His mother called him back to the car with an angry, obscenity-laced tirade. His father asked him whether he was willing to let his father lose his job. First of all, you do not use profanities in talk with a child. Second, I can't imagine an employer who wouldn't expect his employee to risk some time at work to protect his child. (If anything, if I found that an employee had put his child at risk I would fire that employee because putting a child at risk would be a crime, and I would be putting my company at risk of a lawsuit). I went into the filling station and told the clerk what was going on. She called the police. I went out to fill the tank -- slowly, watching what was going on and hoping that the cops would arrive.

I had no idea of what the circumstances were, but on the whole if I have a bad feeling about something, the situation really is bad. It might not help my view of the situation that I saw the sort of child-raising that I hold in contempt: extremely authoritarian parents who end up with unruly, rebellious children. But I am also in Meth Country, so who knows what else is going on? That child was in fear of something -- something for the police to determine.

I don't know whether those people figured that I was watching them while I gassed up... their behavior did improve, and they left before the cops could get there. But the local police did get the plate number from them. I hope that this family has gotten a visit from the police and social services. I thought that the child was in danger at the least of some abuse.