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A Public Service Announcement: Don’t leave your babies unattended.
12/11/06
by DJ
The other day I was walking down the street and I noticed something that could
only happen in a country like this. I walked by a store and saw a baby carriage
sitting outside. I assumed it was empty but as I peered into the pram, I noticed
a little face. I was aghast with disbelief. There is no way a parent left a
baby unattended while they were shopping. No way. The only thing I could think
of was that it was a homeless midget, so I threw a few coins in and kept it
moving. I turned the corner and again, I saw another carriage. I walked by and
really hoped I wouldn’t see another homeless midget. I didn’t. It
was even worse. It was a baby, no mistake about it this time. It looked right
up at me like, “Can I help you bro?” My first thought was that I
needed to go back and get that change I threw in the other pram since it probably
was a baby back there too. Then I thought, what would posses a person to leave
their kid outside like that? I know Finland doesn’t have the same sickos
we do in America, but still, why would you risk it? I wanted to walk in the
store and yell at whoever’s kid it was. I asked my coach if this was a
common thing and he said yes. I was amazed. I told him that in America if you
did that you would be arrested and Child Services would take your kid away.
Then you would be publicly ostracized in the media.
As safe as Finland is, I still would never, ever leave my kid outside. I mean,
what if someone stole it? You would have absolutely no argument for the cops
when you called them. Sample conversation:
Frantic Mother (FM): Officer someone stole my baby!
Cop (C): Calm down Miss. I’m here to help you. Now tell me how it happened…
FM: OK, I was going inside to do some Christmas shopping so I left him outside and….
C: With whom Miss?
FM: Nobody…Anyways so after a while I came back and….
C: So you left it out here, unattended for an undisclosed amount of time?
FM: Yes….but…
C: Good-bye Ma’am. Hopefully a better parent took it.
In America in some neighborhoods, that baby would get scooped up like a fumble and ransomed back, as horrible as that sounds. That’s just one of the main differences between America and Europe as a whole. At home, I hate leaving my car in certain areas or my dog for that matter, much less a damn baby in a carriage. Out here, it’s common practice. This also got me to thinking. Is it better to be naïve of violence like out here, only to fall victim and feel genuinely surprised or live in a place like America where crazy things are commonplace and become so jaded that you are almost numb to violence? I would vote for the latter. Because if you are on your guard than you can protect yourself from random acts of violence. If you constantly live in Candyland, then you expect everything to taste sweet 24/7 and when things go wrong you are devastated even more.
This is actually a map of Finland
I bet it used to be safe enough to live your kids outside in the US, but still, common sense would never allow me. I’m not saying that the people out here are bad parents, just a tad naïve. Sometimes common sense has to reign supreme no matter how “safe” things appear to be. The gift of a child is too much to gamble with. Would you ever leave a wad of cash sitting there on the sidewalk? Didn’t think so. So why would you leave your kid if it’s priceless? So there is my Public Service Announcement: Don’t leave your baby on the sidewalk alone, no matter what country you are in.
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