It’s too easy to judge
This weekend I returned to our apartment complex with Julius after a quick morning trip to the store to pick up milk. As we pulled in, we noticed a small boy walking down the middle of the street. And by small I mean MAYBE 18 months. It was such a bizare sight, it seemed impossible. There were NO adults anywhere to be seen.
Julius and I walked over to the boy and attempted to ask him who he was or where his Mommy and Daddy were.
He didn’t speak. Too young or too scared. After looking around to see if there were any obviously frantic parents scurrying about, we walked with him to the apartment office in hopes they would recognize him.
They didn’t.
Immediately I started thinking, “How could this happen?”
I tried to imagine a scenario where Josi would find herself wandering alone in the street and I couldn’t fathom a situation where that might occur.
That’s when I called Johannes. Who happens to be genetically wired to immediately imagine the worst case scenario.
Scenario 1: Mother drugged out on the couch left the door open and the child wandered out. (I argued it was unlikely since he was wearing a jacket and shoes and seemed unable to put these items on himself)
Scenario 2: Some young parent who realized she/he couldn’t manage life as a caregiver simply dropped him off. Some version of the “baby on the doorstep” cliche.
Scenario 3: The family died and somehow the child managed to escape, in a state of shock. (Again, given the jacket, this seemed unlikely at best).
I think someone watches too many dark cable cop dramas.
The police were soon brought into the equation and as the staff at the apartment office took care of the boy, I took the cops to where I had found him. Thus ensued the door-to-door.
I spoke with a few neighbors I saw walking around, asking if they knew the boy.
They all were indignant that such a thing could happen. “I’m a mother/father and I can’t imaging being that negligent”
The parents of this boy were summarily judged as unfit. One gentleman expressed his belief that they should be “horse whipped.” As far as Johannes was concerned, they were probably dead anyway.
A couple hours later the police phoned me to tell me the boy, Adrian, had been returned to his family. Turns out, they had returned from some early morning Christmas shopping and had their three children set up with the Wii while they stole off to wrap the gifts in another room. Somehow the front door was opened and no one noticed that their youngest son had wandered off. They weren’t franticly looking because they didn’t even know he was gone.
You can imagine they were quite relieved and shocked when the cops turned up with their son.
And if you are honest, I think any parent out there can imaging that this kind of thing could totally happen to them.
I’m grateful we pulled in when we did. Adrian could have easily been hit by a car, being so small darting in between parked cars on a winding road. I’m also grateful for the reminder to hold off judgement in even the most seemingly obvious situations.
There Before the grace of God go I….
