Kids, hot cars, and my H

[rootbeerfloat]

Yesterday, H was on a mission at Home Depot. It was high 80s, humid hurricane weather that we've been enduring for weeks. As he walked through the unshaded parking lot, he heard a kid whining. The kid was alone in a truck with the windows half down (no running a/c). H went over to talk to him, and the kid told him he'd been waiting for 10 minutes. The kid was 7, so old enough to keep track, I guess.

So H flagged down a HD worker, who went back in the store and told her manager, who must've paged the parents. H stayed with the kid. Parents came out soon after, defensive and unfazed. Their excuse for not bringing him in was that kid didn't have shoes. HD employee told them she thought what they were doing was illegal and threatened to call the cops and check, but did not. Family left, kid was OK, the end.

When H called me to tell me what happened, my first question was whether he called the cops on these people lol. I'm glad he didn't, but more glad the kid was OK.

[Deleted]

I'm so glad your husband intervened!

[CloudBee]

I would have called the cops.

[jeaniebueller]

People are so dumb.

[Deleted]

I really thought you were gonna say he smashed the window!

But I'm really glad that kid was okay.

[countthestars]

I'm glad your husband helped the kid out!

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 14:36:22 GMT -5 swizz said:

I think someone posted the other day that 7 was the age for leaving kids alone in a car? So I'm not sure it was illegal, but assinine for sure.

I looked it up awhile ago when there was talk about kids alone and according to a safety website for parents it said that only 20 states have specific laws for leaving kids unattended in cars. In PA the law is for kids under 6 years of age, which I guess means if they're 6 years old and 1 day, it doesn't violate the law. I guess every parent has a different threshold for leaving kids alone and sometimes the line seems gray between omg call cps vs not. 

[Alyssa]

Reminds me of this video that a teen shot of a baby left in a car and the mother was in the store....the mother got defensive when the guy confronted her.

[Ashley&Scott]

Good for your H, I would have done the same thing.

[pooh8402]

In my state, this is legal. Since the kid was uncomfortable, I would have done what your H did; tell the store and wait for the parents.

[rootbeerfloat]

Aug 31, 2015 15:25:11 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

I have neighbors that are 7. I'm thinking that they'd get out of the car if it became too hot, no?

I wondered about this, too. Like maybe they told him not to? Or maybe asking a stranger to help was what he thought to do.

[SJ]

Wouldn't a 7 year old just open the door if he was hot?

I'm not saying it's a great idea, but it also doesn't seem nearly as dangerous as a child in a car seat, etc.

[VillainV]

Aug 31, 2015 15:25:11 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

I have neighbors that are 7. I'm thinking that they'd get out of the car if it became too hot, no?

And then you have a 7 year-old wandering around a busy HD parking lot by himself.  Dangerous, perhaps, but maybe not deadly like leaving an infant strapped into a car on a hot day.  

I think I would have done the same thing -- flagged down an employee and tried to find the kid's parents.  Which is probably what I would have done if I'd seen a kid that age in a parking lot with no parents in sight.   Of course, in a HD parking lot, it's a pretty safe bet that the parents are inside HD.  But at a big shopping mall where it may or may not have been easy to locate the parents?    I'm not sure.  If the kid knows his parents' cell phone numbers (which I imagine most 7-year-olds would?), I would probably try to call them from my phone.  If I couldn't reach them, I'm not sure...

[calliejo]

Aug 31, 2015 14:45:51 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Reminds me of this video that a teen shot of a baby left in a car and the mother was in the store....the mother got defensive when the guy confronted her.

That is so so so disturbing.