She was walking around the aisles pushing her stroller with the sleeping baby inside. The awning/sun cover was extended and had a basket full of groceries on top of it. Now mind you, this awning was not designed for this task nor could it handle it. The thing was buckling down and practically squashed because of the weight of the groceries on it. And where was the baby in all of this? Right underneath the awning, head tilted completely to the left, squished down and bearing the entire weight of the basket-full of groceries.
This poor baby (who couldn't have been older than 8 months old) was holding all his mother's groceries using the side of his head, neck and shoulder. What was this poor child's spaced out mother doing while she was shopping?
Oy.
A raging inferno of anger immediately blew up inside me as I politely walked over to the ignorant fool (while she was placing the 3rd half gallon of OJ's worth of weight on her child) and told her in not so many words that she is currently actively exposing her son to the very real possibility of becoming handicapped. She smiled and said "Oh, I didn't realize" as she gave me the dirtiest expression I have ever received that one could pass as friendly. Who cares. At least she removed the dangerous burden from her poor child's head.
Are there actually people in this world who need to be told not to do this stuff?! What was going through her mind (or lack thereof) while she was filling this heavy basket? Oh, this flimsy awning can hold 50 pounds of groceries. Lalala. The lack of consideration this woman has for her child is staggering to say the least. If someone in Child Protective Services would've seen this she would've surely gotten into trouble. Hell, If any normal person would've seen this she would've gotten into trouble. Of course, this occurred in one of our typical Jewish Supermarkets where this sort of thing is tolerated. Only when a little boy is run over by a school bus in Boro Park do people even being to see the tip of this astronomically gargantuan iceberg.
... and the reason that kids are unfortunately hit by school buses (or other vehicles) in Boro Park is because the ratio of children to adults is insane. There is no way every child can be safely accounted for at all times when there are so many kids to watch.
ReplyDelete(and dont get me started on Boro Park driving)
On an unusually hot and sunny Chol Hamoed Sukkot excursion to Hershey Park, my wife and I witnessed a chassidishe Boro Park type mother (hell, a girl/child really) carrying around an infant that was dressed in a heavy knit, velour jogging suit.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the maxim: The state requires that you have a drivers license to drive...but anyone can have a baby...