I was on duty and stopped by the local Stop-n-Rob to refuel the car and get a drink. It was evening, maybe 2130 or so. After pumping the gas I went inside to sign the charge ticket.
At one of the tables was a young mother and her daughter. The girl appeared to be about three years old and was apparently eating dinner. Why you would take your child to a gas station for dinner is beyond me. It also seemed to be beyond the little one as she wasn't eating. Mom was trying to talk her into it when she saw me. She pointed, "See that policeman? If you don't eat your dinner he will take you to jail."
That kind of comment gets under my skin a little. Great way to get your young one to thinking that the police are the bad guys. Misbehave a little and they are just looking for a reason to take you away from Mom and Dad and throw you in a cold cell. These are often the same parents who will wonder is several years why their kids think the police are bad and won't trust officers. I normally just shrug and ignore those types of comments. I tried that tact on this particular evening.
Mom was persistent. "You had better eat or he is going to take you away." The girl looked at me and then at Mom. "Ask him if you don't believe me." The child looked my way questioningly. I was caught. I spoke to the girl, "If you don't eat I won't arrest you. Your mother will probably give you a spanking though." Mom was shocked. She stared at me as the girl turned back to her. She stammered and then told the little girl that nobody was going to spank her but that she still needed to eat. Sorry to void your abdication of responsibility lady.
4 comments:
What a miserable failure of a mother. You response was exactly what you should have said. Maybe next time ask the parent (in front of the child) if they make a habit of lying to their children about everything or only about authority figures. Okay, that's probably not the best suggestion.
What you have here is a mother who not only won't take responsibility for her own child but expects people who have no business doing so to do it for her. When she had it thrown back in her face, she still refused to take responsibility.
Here's hoping the mother either grows up and takes responsibility or has her child taken away before she (the child) is beyond all hope.
Oh Dude, not only, but your reader scares me.
He writes: What a miserable failure of a mother.
Here's hoping the mother either grows up and takes responsibility or has her child taken away before she (the child) is beyond all hope.
Yeah, take the child away because the mother said something that MANY people have said throughout the ages. I don't agree what she said, but isn't this a little extreme???
you don't know why she chose to have dinner there, neither do I, but there's another female-based judgement.
Dude, I'm scared. No worries. I won't come back.
Lynore -
Have you read any of my posts before you reply? You're right, I don't know why the mother chose to have dinner where she did or when she did. I really don't care. It wasn't the point of the post and didn't even figure into the point. It was what is called context. Her dinner and gender have nothing to do with my reaction, it would have been the same with a father or with a parent whose gender I could not determine. Your the one who brought gender into the mix.
Thank goodness that you will not be returning. I am rapidly losing patience with the chip on your shoulder and your lack of ability to read my posts before commenting.
I see these people all the time; in fact I get calls often from people that want me to do thier parenting for them. Then again I get calls from school officials that seem to want me to do their job, too.
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