When Parents Have Priorities
What follows is a true story. I wish I’d made it up.
I am sitting in a cafe, enjoying my lunch. The tables outside are placed on a platform some 6–7 inches above the ground.
Two women and a little boy sit at the table next to mine, close to the edge of the platform. The child is about 5 or 6 years old.
One of the women is dressed as if she just came out of a strip club, almost everything exposed. I’ll call her Britney.
The other one, the child’s mother, is maybe 7 or 8 months pregnant. In my mind, I name her Charlene.
Britney goes inside to order their drinks. The place is self-service.
Charlene lights a cigarette. Remember, she is pregnant.
The boy wants to follow Brittney but Charlene won’t let him. He says he’s hungry.
Britney comes back with two iced lattes and some processed, sugary juice for the boy.
He says he wants to have some coffee instead. Charlene gives him her latte. He chugs half of it straight away.
Charlene then takes a Dunkin Donuts box out of her bag and gives the boy a donut for lunch.
The child is excited. He decides to switch chairs and heads to the one closer to the edge of the six-inch platform.
Charlene jumps off her chair, grabs the boy by the hand and yells at him, “You can’t sit there! You’ll fall and hurt yourself!”
The boy sits back in his original chair.
I exhale with relief. Just as I was beginning to think Charlene may not be a good mother, she steps it up and saves her child from the real and imminent danger of falling from a deck 6 inches high. A parent has to draw the line somewhere, right?
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