Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Observed in the Park

There is a large wooden gate designed for a kid to open and close and open and close to pacify a manic-obsessive heart's content.  A toddler of the boy variety is doing just that.  His father warns him to stop because he will pinch his fingers. The warnings turn to shouts.  The father stomps over, yanks the offending fingers away from the door, and again reprimands the crying boy.  He pulls the kid away from the door and leaves him standing there in tears.  And then.  The father reaches over and pinches the already sobbing little boy on the chest.  Hard.  See, if the door won't pinch you. I will. And the father walks back to his bench.

By the way, as far as I can determine, the door is designed in such a way that it is nearly impossible to pinch little fingers.  


2 comments:

DJ said...

asshole.

the dad.

not you.

Ishleen said...

I think people should be given lessons on how to teach kids before they are allowed to have babies..
My dogs understand me well when I explain things to them 'the correct way' and I'm sure human kids are more than capable to understand simple instructions.

I'd like to share a similar incident that I witnessed:
I was on my way back from college and I saw an under-privileged woman with three kids waiting to cross a busy road. When the cars slowed down a little, her youngest daughter who mustn't be more than 4 years old, started towards the road. Her mother pulled her back, slapped her hard across the face, pushed her behind the others and walked off! The elder daughter who seemed to be around 13 years old picked up the little kid, held the other one's hand and walked after her mother.
I was appalled by the mother's atrocious behaviour! I walked out of my car and went, asked her name & other details and threatened her that I'd have children's rights activists take her kids away if she couldn't handle them and behave properly around them and that I'd keep an eye on her.