What is it with Mother’s/Guardians forgetting their kids in hot cars, while they attend meetings or go to work? No, the Gorilla is not talking about those who intentionally (that’s sad enough) leave their kids behind, locked in their cars. He is referring to those parents, who actually forget that their kids are in the car-and leave them there to die! The latest incident was yesterday, when an 18-month old toddler died after a Hooters employee in Phoenix, Arizona went to work leaving her child in her hot car for her entire 7 hour shift of work. The woman discovered the child after her shift was over. Authorities said the woman was supposed to drop the child off at daycare before starting her shift, but forgot, and the child was left to die in the sweltering heat. Believe it or not, this incident is not that uncommon. Remember the story last month of the Assistant Principal in Ohio, who changed her daily routine and forgot to take her child to the sitter? This little girl died as well; the mother “forgot” the child was still in the car seat in the back, and she proceeded to go to work -at a school of all things- all day long.
Hey listen, we all get busy, and yes, it’s easy to let our minds get bogged down with the daily stresses of life. One can easily be forgetful, especially when a baby is snoozing quietly in a car seat in the back of a car. But for heaven’s sake! Don’t these guardians have a mental checklist in place like most responsible adults? The Hooters girl for instance, was she a young mother whose priority may have been partying and making the rent? (The Gorilla does not mean to stereotype.) What about this other woman in Ohio, the assistant principal? Surely she had a checklist of sorts. One would think. After all, she worked with children! Apparently, these people need to shift their priorities.
In the last 10 years, there have been 340 heat-related deaths of children left in hot cars. That may not seem like a lot, but if you break it down annually, that’s over 30 deaths per year. Charges were filed in only half of those cases and of those, only half ever went to trial. Luckily over 81% of those resulted in a conviction or guilty plea. Thank God there’s at least some justice for these innocent children. Unfortunately, the Gorilla is sad to say, these incidents are becoming more and more common.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:56 am
Well, I think anyone could be capable of this. I am sure the woman was young (working at Hooters) and probably just trying to get to work and not having much rest. Maybe she just had a lot on her mind and if the child was sleeping, it would not be that hard to forget it was in there. She is surely being punished enough by losing her child. The guilt would be unbearable. No parent is perfect and we have all had our share of mishaps with our kids. How is this any different than those parents who leave their kids unattended in a room in the home while they walk away to take a 5 minute phone call only to discover that the child made it’s way out to the pool and fell in? This happens daily all over the world and literally hundreds of thousands of children die each year this very same way. It is cited as an “accidental” death and the parents are never (rarely) charged. This woman is not guilty of any more “negligence” than any of these parents. I feel sorry for her.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:33 am
There are so many distractons these days. My guess is that both women were consumed in a telephone conversation while driving and forgot their tasks at hand.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:55 am
I think you are reading too much into this. Darwinism at work…