Join in until it spreads throughout the area, while parents check it's not their kid missing. Smart way to handle it.

this country has gone crazy over the idea of vigilante law. What should never have happened was the father becoming judge and jury meeting out his own personnal retribution. Now he's protecting his own ass by not fessing up to his crime because he's probably worried he's going to get his ass sued.
It's perfectly reasonable to quickly and with reasonable force remove the child and call the police. It was not acceptable to beat him up. There's no excuse for that behavior and I hope he gets jail time. These acts keep people from being watchfull and protective of each other. It's empathy that we need more of in society and guys like this who take out their neurotic angst on whomever they want undermines empathy.
Paranoia, vigilante law and false facts are the attitudes of our time now. It has to stop.

There are twice as many people as there were when I was a teen, so there are a lot more than there used to be. But it doesn't mean they're happening at a higher rate.

If you don't take into account the overall population, if you just believe the few stories you read or see, then you think things are going to hell in a handbasket.

It always pays to do some sort of searches. The first is to look at the national trend over time. It's sort of embarrassing when there's suddenly a huge burst of activist outrage when the incidence is down 90% over the last 40 years and down 25% over the last 10. "It's much better now, let's protest."

The second is to look at local rates for some social ill, sometimes much harder to find.

If you don't do this it's easy to be manipulated, to have social trust corroded and social polarization and suspicion to increase.

Welcome to 21st century America.

I will say that I've seen kids alone and in trouble and just watched. I knew if I got involved I'd be the first to be hit with the parents' suspicion and really didn't want the grief that would come from trying to be a good guy. The best I did was to make sure that things didn't get worse or dangerous for the kid by staying and observing until a parent showed up. Weaselly, but that's how it is.

It's good to have an occasional crosscheck on ones perspective. Yes it's easy to get carried off with media hype but I try to stay on track as much as possible.
I've been around the block a few times, lived in 10 states and 5 countries and worked in many more. My concern, even call it downheartedness, is based mostly on my own opinion and what I've personally experienced. My conclusion of the state of our society even our civilization is not good. I could insert a thesis here but I won't bore you with it. Stats of past trends stemming long periods are interesting but not that useful since the methods and sources have evolved so rapidly. I don’t put too much faith in them but I don't dismiss them either. Media and other technological sources that bombard us are only as good as we are able to filter it for ourselves and we had better do so.
The attitude of the father in this story is not out of the ordinary now, but I will challenge the idea that attitudes in our society haven't changed much. On the contrary they are changing at such a rate that there is no precident to use as a stabilizer. Population increase exaserbates the increase of tention and lack of resources at a time when we need healthcare and empathy more than ever. Instead we have greedy politicians and "stand your ground" laws that promote narcissistic vigilante rule.
I have empathy for a person who was beaten down at a time when he was showing care for a lost child. I have pity for the angry, fearful man whose mind is so cluttered with deceit that he thinks it's his right to go beyond his child's welfare and unlawfully ruin another inocent person's life with blood, lies and denial... quote "I wanted to kill him". I have pity but can only hope he meets a lawful and reasonable punishment for the sake of societal boundaries.
Last week, my wife and 13 year old son were walking on a hiking path when a man running by yelled at them for being in his way threatened them and called her a bitch. Another day a person who didn't like the way an elderly woman was driving went to her car at a stoplight, reached in hitting her, took her car keys out of the ignition and after she appologized for anything she may have done he threw her keys down the sewer drain. I can continue but.....welcome to the 21st century.
I reserve the most pity for the child of this abusive man and the coming generation of children who will be raised in a Trumpian society.

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Despite the man's innocence, several posts were published on social media defaming his character. Family and friends of the toddler posted the man's name, photo, and place of employment online, calling him a "child predator."
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He should sue the heck out of them for that. Such a false charge is almost impossible for a man to live down.

Last edited Tue Jun 27, 2017, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Don't worry - next time someone won't intervene. When that child dies, we'll wonder why no one helped!

Just letting there 2 yr old wander off, then trying to blame someone else for their neglect.

So the lesson learned here is if you see a lost kid, just leave it alone. Let the store employees know and let them deal with the damn issue, for instance.

My message to the shitty parents. Please go get spayed or neutered.

away and they didn't notice ?? Sure the beer line was more important
Oh and the good citizen does not have a criminal history and officers verified that he was there visiting friends, [........b]who happened to be off-duty deputies.
And his last name is Patel( Indian surname) so I'm sure the loser dad thought he could get away with it and no one would ever hear about the assault or slander
Sorry I don't believe the parents or thier hateful social media blitz

Anyone remember the Blackish episode with the lost girl in the elevator?? People say but why?

I was at Lowe's and walking to the side entrance to the garden area. On the sidewalk away from the main door toward the garden entrance, a darling little girl (probably 4 years old) was walking by herself with no adult in sight. I started walking toward her to help (I'm a white woman) and noticed that an older black man was walking in the parking lot about 20 feet parallel to her, obviously keeping an eye on her so she didn't walk into traffic or get snatched up by a stranger. You could tell this man was a kind man who didn't want the little girl to be harmed but was afraid of what the reaction would be if he approached her or took her hand to help. I thanked him for his concern and walked the little girl to the garden section where her panicked mother came running out the side door looking for her. She thanked me for my concern but I will never forget what a slap in the face it was for me to realize what it was like for this kind man who just wanted to help. And this was 20 years ago-- I can only imagine how that man would feel today. Mr Patel was a kind man who tried to help.