[Phoenix~Mama]

Another fun topic from the radio this morning.

Has anyone heard this story yet?? A godmother was shopping at Walmart with her 2 month old goddaughter... had her all buckled into her carseat when a $50 bill flew out of her purse. She went to chase it. A Walmart employee timed her and at 6 minutes decided she was gone from the car long enough, went and took the baby and called the police.

The godmother is now facing a possible sentence of 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for child endangerment.

This story upset me so much.

This poor woman!! Yes, she may not have made the best decision to be away from the car that long... but is not the employee who decided not to help her and just time her and then report her just as much at fault? What is this world coming to when people can not help each other out and only think of getting people in ridiculous trouble!

I honestly do not think this woman deserves jail time for this.

My heart breaks for her. This only sends the message that we can all lose our children at any given blink of an eye if we aren't perfect. Talk about stressful....

 

[LavenderMae]

Could the godmother still see her car? Why didn't the walmart employee help her get the $50 instead of timing her?

 

[Jemmind]

Did the employee know she was chasing her money, or did they think she went inside to buy something, was it freezing cold outside, anything like that? How long did it take for the police to get there...because if the godmother was back to the car much after the 6 minutes was up, she might have been able to drive off before they got there.

 

[sungodis]

I think that is pretty ridiculous, personally. Not a great decision on the godmother's part, I agree, but the Walmart worker! I can't even put into words the disgust I feel that someone would see a situation like that and not offer to help. Not only that, but to sit there and time it? What made that person think they are God's gift to the world?? The attitude just amazes me.

ETA: Blah, I guess there is probably more to the story, but the worker just came off as so... judgemental? arrogant? I can't even really think of the appropriate word.

 

[Jemmind]

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/18178645/detail.html

According to this article...the baby was not left in the car...she was left ON THE GROUND next to the car!! Now, maybe the employee could have watched the baby while the woman searched for her cash but heck, if I saw a baby on the ground next to a car and no guardian there, I'd have brought it in the store too. AND if I was the mom I'd be upset that my baby was left on the ground beside the car unattended no matter who did it.

 

[mamazee]

She shouldn't have left the baby, BUT:

1. $50 is a huge amount of money to some people in current economic times and maybe she simply could not afford to lose it.

2. The Walmart employee should have helped her rather than timing her and calling the police.

 

[Phoenix~Mama]

Hmm... the radio this morning said the baby was in the car... that does change things a little. I'd be freaked just leaving a baby on the ground unattended!!!

But still... why in the world did the walmart employee not help this woman if they had all the time in the world to time her??? Did they really need to call the police?

A little help and compassion for fellow humans can go a long way.

I agree with PP, $50 is A LOT right now. I know I'd be pretty worked up and trying to find that $50 too. That would buy half my gorceries for the week.

 

[Mrs.Oz]

As far as the timing thing goes, it might have explanation. A good friend of mine just started working at a retail store that caters to children's products/toys. She told me that every day there are parents who drop their (obviously not infant) children off and let them play in the store while they go elsewhere. Friend said if the kid is there for a certain period of time without the parent (I can't remember the exact time but it was a few minutes or something) they are supposed to call the police. My take on this story really depends on what actually happened, which doesn't seem to be clear.

If I saw the godmother set the baby down and could see her chasing after something, yeah, I'd think "ok, bad judgement", but I'd watch the baby and then probably say something to the godmother.

If, however, I happened upon a baby left unattended and could not locate anyone who seemed to be the caregiver, I would probably keep some sort of mental note of how long it had been (all the while watching over the child) and at some point I would probably do something about it.

The story from the link is a little unclear on which kind of situation it was.

 

[Kappa]

I think the godmother should have secured the child before chasing after the money. With that said, I don't think it rises to the level of child endangerment and I'm sure she has "learned her lesson." 50 bucks does not sound like much but that could have been her grocery money for the week. I'm sure a feeling a desperation caused her to not think straight.

 

[Llyra]

To me, this is like those jacka***es who stand around watching me trying to wrestle a double stroller and an active 4 year old into or out of my car, or through a door, and make comments like, "wow, you have your hands full, don't you?" with a stupid smirk on their faces while not lifting a finger to help or even hold the door.

Yeah, sure, the woman wasn't using the best judgment. Point granted. But please... why not just HELP? If you really cared about the KID being safe, you'd help. But what this idiot really cared about was the self-righteous thrill of seeing somebody else get "busted" for what might have easily happened to any flustered parent in their less-than-perfect moments. Seems to me this UA violation would have stood there and watched the baby get mowed over by a passing car, carrying a timer and documenting the whole thing for the police, and never have lifted a finger to help.

I'm disgusted with the entire human race today, so that's probably coloring my evaluation of what happened. I apologize. But geez.

 

[SAHDS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs.Oz A good friend of mine just started working at a retail store that caters to children's products/toys. She told me that every day there are parents who drop their (obviously not infant) children off and let them play in the store while they go elsewhere.

The fine and jail time seems excessive, but what if something had happened to the child? Wouldn't we all be outraged and wanting the full extent of punishment? 6 minutes is a LOOOOOONG time to leave a child, abandoned, in a busy parking lot. If that were my child, they wouldn't be the Godmother any longer.

I'm unsure of what people mean by the worker should have helped. Helped what? The lady chase the money? From what I gathered, they were with the child.

 

[cotopaxi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kappa II don't think it rises to the level of child endangerment and I'm sure she has "learned her lesson."

I don't know... the baby was on the ground, and her back was turned / attention elsewhere? Someone could have walked off with her in a heartbeat. *shudder*

 

[mytwogirls]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamazee She shouldn't have left the baby, BUT: 1. $50 is a huge amount of money to some people in current economic times and maybe she simply could not afford to lose it. 2. The Walmart employee should have helped her rather than timing her and calling the police.

Exactly! Where the hell are some people's heads? I mean, come on! Just help out people instead of waiting to get people in trouble for God's sake.

 

[grniys]

So... the baby was on the GROUND beside the car and left while the woman chased down $50, and somehow this is the walmart employee's fault?

Walmart employees are not daycare providers nor nannies. I wouldn't expect them to watch my kid (or godchild) while I chased down a $50 bill. Yes, it is a hefty sum of money, but honestly, it's not more important than a child's life.

What would have happened if the employee hadn't been there to watch the child, or hadn't called the cops? What if another car didn't see the carseat (I'm assuming that's what the baby was in) and ran it over? Then we'd be posting about how negligent the employee was to not call the cops.

I think the employee was in the right. There are probably policies for this sort of thing... and he or she was just doing their job.

 

[One_Girl]

Did the employee see her chasing the money or did they just see the baby alone and start timing to see if someone was coming right back? Six minutes seems like a long time to be chasing money. How long did it take the woman in total time to come into the store to report the baby missing? It would have taken time to make the call and for the police to come and if she didn't go into the store or make a call to the police herself to report the baby was kidnapped in that amount of time then I think there is more to the story and she should have charges pressed against her.

 

[mytwogirls]

I can understand the baby was in harm's way (REALLY in harm's way) but I still very sorry for this woman, I just do.

 

[mamazee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grniys So... the baby was on the GROUND beside the car and left while the woman chased down $50, and somehow this is the walmart employee's fault? Walmart employees are not daycare providers nor nannies. I wouldn't expect them to watch my kid (or godchild) while I chased down a $50 bill. Yes, it is a hefty sum of money, but honestly, it's not more important than a child's life. What would have happened if the employee hadn't been there to watch the child, or hadn't called the cops? What if another car didn't see the carseat (I'm assuming that's what the baby was in) and ran it over? Then we'd be posting about how negligent the employee was to not call the cops. I think the employee was in the right. There are probably policies for this sort of thing... and he or she was just doing their job.

If he had the time to sit and watch her and time her, he had the time to help. It's called common courtesy. I can't imagine watching someone in a situation like that and not helping. That doesn't mean she was OK, but between the two, I think callously sitting and keeping track of your watch instead of helping is the worse.

 

[octobermom]

$50 is 1/4 our monthly food and hosue hold budget its a huge amount of money its irreplaceable yet I can't comprehend leaving my baby alone unattended to go chasing after it for that long a time.

Not sure how I feel about her being charged though...

Deanna

 

[aprons_and_acorns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llyra Yeah, sure, the woman wasn't using the best judgment. Point granted. But please... why not just HELP? If you really cared about the KID being safe, you'd help. But what this idiot really cared about was the self-righteous thrill of seeing somebody else get "busted" for what might have easily happened to any flustered parent in their less-than-perfect moments.

I agree with this.

 

[j_p_i]

Frankly, I don't carry cash like that anyway, for large sums of money I would use a debit card. If she cared that much about the money she should have put it in her wallet and not just thrown it in her purse. The article says "she put down her car seat next to her car at about 9:30 a.m. while she chased $50 cash that flew out of her purse" (http://www.newsnet5.com/news/18178645/detail.html). To me, this woman was completely careless. Zip up the purse, or tuck the money away, and the 2 month old wouldn't be put in harms way.

Sure, the walmart employee should have offered to help. If you watch the video on the right side of the screen from the above link (related articles) when the walmart employee noticed the carseat, there was no one around! Perhaps he or she was standing next to the baby, waiting for the caregiver to come back. The employee may have been looking after the child and making she the carseat wasn't hit by another car. After about 30 seconds of standing there, I would have started checking my watch too. The godmother was 500 feet away from the baby, the baby wasn't even near her car she just left the poor thing on the ground! I have no compassion for this woman whatsoever.