Friday, July 06, 2007

so I almost killed a child today ...

... no, I wasn't overcome by rage, or recklessly shooting off a gun or anything crazy like that.

Just driving. And not driving recklessly or dangerously. Not driving and not paying attention to the road while fiddling with the radio. I wasn't even speeding.

Thank God.

I was going about 10 mph on a small road in my village when, all of the sudden, a little girl sprinted out from behind a parked car, running across the road. She saw me and stopped. I saw her and stopped. It wasn't really all that close, thanks to my low speed and reaction time, and then she just continued across after her brief stop. As if nothing had happened.

What's worse is two of her relatives (parents? aunt and uncle?) were on separate sides of the road, and neither made a big deal about it either; not to her or me -- especially not to her.

I think I'd have been a bit upset if a child (or young relative) of mine was so careless about crossing a street, especially when there was traffic and he or she had a real chance of being hit.

It was drilled into me when I was young that I had to look both ways before crossing a street. Just running across a road without paying attention to cars was not acceptable, leading to a yelling, admonition and, usually, a swat to drive the lesson home.

I guess not every parent does that.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

AJ did that once.. I spanked him. I felt bad after.. but it was pure reaction... he scared the shit out of me and I wanted some fear in him too, even if the fear was Mom will kick my ass if I run out again!

Snow White said...

I was taught to "look left, look right, and then look left again." I taught it to my child, and even at almost 20 she still looks all three time!

Glad to see you posting again! xox

Natalia said...

That's nuts. And people think I am crazy when I say people should not be allowed to procreate without a license.

-N

Unknown said...

God watches over fools and children. I know my son got his ass swatted once for dashing out of a parking spot at the mall into traffic. Face it Dzer, your folks raised you the right way.

I hope someone instructs her in the proper way to cross a road before she becomes some horrid traffic statistic.

SignGurl said...

I saw a kid almost get hit on his bike by a car. His dad was just down the street and man did he yell and scream at his kid for not paying attention. I would have yelled at him if his dad hadn't. I guess it's the mom in me.

I'm not here. said...

You were raised right, DZER. That kid needs to learn about crossing the street.
xxx