The Summer Epidemic

There's a summer epidemic that's sweeping the nation, possibly sweeping the entire world. It's not the Zika virus, or any other illness that you would catch from a insect bite. It's one borne out of pure stupidty. 

Everyday it seems we're reading that another parent or guardian has left a child in a blistering hot car to die a very excruciating death.

Just three nights ago in Kershaw County, SC, 46 year old Melony Peters was arrested for leaving her car unattended with a 16-month old child and a dog inside the car while she was grocery shopping. Fortunately, a lady was able to unlock the car and get the baby out of the car, take the baby inside the grocery store, and call 911. The baby was drenched with sweat. When the police located Peters and questioned her, she stated that she "had a lot on her mind and forgot the child was in the car." The baby was taken into protective care by the Department of Social Services and the dog was turned over to Kershaw County Special Services. Not all cases have a positive outcome.

Earlier this month, a mom in Mississippi left her two year old child in her car while she went to work. She had forgotten to drop the child off at daycare before work, but get this: she remembered to go pick the child up from daycare. Several points come to mind over this. First, when she approached  her car after work, did she not see her deceased child, still strapped into her car seat? Second, if the mother could remember the routine of picking the child up from daycare, why couldn't she remember to drop the child off? And third, how are some ruled an accident and others aren't?

When the story of the Mississippi mom first started making it's rounds on social media, I read the comments that people were leaving, which is something I need to stop doing because some of the idiots just infuriate me, but one of them really ticked me off. She said something to the effect of "if you have a baby in the backseat, take off your left shoe and leave it in the backseat so that when you get out you'll realize it's in the backseat with your child."

My thoughts on that are IF YOU'RE THAT STUPID, DO NOT REPRODUCE!

Remember the dad in Georgia who left his two year old in the car? He caused a big argument on my Facebook page without even knowing it. A former friend was defending him and was even going as far as to say  that she could see her boyfriend leaving her kids in the car. I told her that maybe she should rethink that relationship. She blocked me.

In closing I'd just like to say that it seems awfully odd to me that you never really hear of kids being left in cars in the winter and freezing to death. Hmm, I wonder why?

No Excuses

We read about these stories every summer: parents or caregivers leaving children in hot cats. Most recently, a man in Georgia was charged with murder for leaving his toddler in a car for eight hours. The child died.

I posted a link to the story on my Facebook page yesterday. It was commented on by a few friends who, like me, agreed that it was horrible, how could someone forget their child, etc. Then there was this one person who says that she wouldn't be surprised if her boyfriend didn't leave her child in the car because her child's car seat is behind the driver's seat. Then she went on to say that a scientific study shows that people go on auto pilot. Auto pilot is for airplanes and is no excuse for killing a child.

Shouldn't some things just be common sense? Everyday I believe more and more that common sense is a rare gift. Animals take better care of their young than some human beings. Animals have that protective instinct. Why don't some humans?

I don't understand why at some point during those eight hours the. Man in Georgia didn't remember there was a child in the car. Maybe it wasn't part of his normal daily routine to drop the child off at daycare but isn't he a father everyday? Daycare and work probably wasn't a commute that was very far so I'm not understanding how he could forget he had put a child in his backseat and forgot the child was back there. Even if the drive was several hours, there's no excuse.

In closing I just want to say that if you wouldn't be surprised if your significant other could do such a thing, maybe it's time to reevaluate your relationship.