Last week, I witnessed a woman beating a small child in a
parking lot.
I did not do anything.
Neither did any of the other half dozen or so witnesses, including a
male employee of the store who was in the parking lot.
There was another person with the woman, and the woman,
quite frankly, scared me. She was
screaming loudly; using profane language pointedly
at the child. I have never seen such a
public display in all my life, and I felt useless and frozen.
I am telling you this, because if I could go back, there are
certain things I would do, and I plan on doing, to prepare myself just in case
I am ever in a similar situation.
Perhaps these ideas will also help you prepare.
1. Carry
paper and a pen in your car within easy reach all the time. DO NOT rely on your phone to input all your
data. You may need your phone at the same
time as you are writing. In my case,
once I kicked into gear, I found myself frantically grabbing a pen and writing
the license number on my arm as I was driving, following the car, and calling
the police.
2.
Remember that most large stores have security
guards. I think that if I had acted, I
could have gotten a guard there on time.
Or at least asked the employee to go get the guard.
3.
Be a detective.
Save the emotions for later. The
best thing I can do to help the child—and the adult (who obviously needs help,
too)—is to remain calm and to notice things.
When I called the police and child protective services, they asked
questions. It was embarrassing how many
simple questions I could not answer simply because I had been too emotional to
observe them.
4.
Of all the things I regret, I do not know why I
did not surreptitiously video this interaction with my phone. It may sound horrible, but in this society,
evidence is KING. If I want to help a
child, the best thing I can do is SHOW PROOF of abuse.
5.
A bunch of individuals are much less likely to
intervene than a unit. Go to others near
you and solicit their help. In group
dynamics, someone has to start the chain.
That “someone” may as well be me.
Not too long ago, I had a seizure in a crowded parking lot. I was half-hanging out of my car door, and I
could see people getting in and out of their cars in the spots near me. I was paralyzed, and nobody helped. I was “someone else’s problem”.
If I could do it over, I would like to think that I would have the bravery and
sneakiness to first video enough to prove what was going on, then
put my phone safely in the trunk of my car before going over and trying to keep
that little girl safe—not by being confrontational, but by trying to help the
woman calm down.
I probably would have gotten my butt kicked, because even
though I have started to lift weights, it has only reinforced the truth that I
have the upper-body strength of an infant.
Although I do appear to have freakishly strong thighs, I cannot fathom
the usefulness of this strength unless I could possibly get someone’s head in
some sort of anaconda-grip with my thighs…
But I digress…
I have created these tables of items that seem to be
important to those I have communicated with.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t fill them out all the way, or even be
specific. If you know a person’s height compared
to the vehicle or a nearby object; that can still be useful.
I plan on printing them out and keeping them in my car just
in case…
The vehicle information would also be useful for accidents
or other motor vehicle incidents, I think.
I just know that if I’d had a plan and a paper, I could have
been filling out useful information instead of standing next to my car and
crying while all this happened.
It rips me apart knowing that there is a little girl out
there who needs love and affection, and I may have missed out on the
opportunity of a lifetime to turn her world around. I am doing my best to be better prepared so
that if I am ever in this situation again, I can do whatever I can to care for
a little child in need.
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Description of Adult 1:
Male/Female
Name_______________________
Age_________________________
Height______________________
Weight______________________
Skin
Color____________________
Hair
Color____________________
Hair
Length/Style______________
Eye
Color____________________
Wearing glasses/hat/jewelry?___
____________________________
Voice(accent?)________________
Clothing:
Dress/Casual/Athletic
Shirt Type/Color______________
Pants Type/Color______________
Shoes_______________________
Other identifying
markers (scars, tattoos, birthmarks, facial hair?)
____________________________
____________________________
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Description of Adult 2:
Male/Female
Name_______________________
Age_________________________
Height______________________
Weight______________________
Skin
Color____________________
Hair Color____________________
Hair
Length/Style______________
Eye
Color____________________
Wearing glasses/hat/jewelry?____
____________________________
Voice(accent?)________________
Clothing:
Dress/Casual/Athletic
Shirt Type/Color______________
Pants Type/Color______________
Shoes_______________________
Other identifying
markers (scars, tattoos, birthmarks, facial hair?)
____________________________
____________________________
|
|
Description of Child 1:
Boy/Girl
Name_______________________
Age_________________________
Height_______________________
Weight______________________
Skin
Color____________________
Hair
Color____________________
Hair
Length/Style______________
Eye
Color____________________
Wearing
glasses/hat/jewelry?____
____________________________
Clothing:
Dress/Casual/Athletic/Pajamas
Shirt Type/Color_______________
Pants Type/Color______________
Shoes_______________________
Other identifying markers (pacifiers, toys, etc.)
____________________________
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Description of Child 2:
Boy/Girl
Name_______________________
Age_________________________
Height_______________________
Weight______________________
Skin
Color____________________
Hair
Color____________________
Hair
Length/Style______________
Eye
Color____________________
Wearing glasses/hat/jewelry?____
____________________________
Clothing:
Dress/Casual/Athletic/Pajamas
Shirt Type/Color_______________
Pants Type/Color______________
Shoes_______________________
Other identifying markers (pacifiers, toys, etc.)
____________________________
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VEHICLE
Van SUV Sedan Truck
Other___________
Brand and Model_______________________________
License Number________________________________
License State and County, any other
identifiers on plate_____________
__________________________________________________________
Color_________________________
Special Markings or Dents_____________________________________
Tinted Windows? Yes No
Bumper Stickers?____________________________________________
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|
VEHICLE
Van SUV Sedan Truck
Other___________
Brand and Model_______________________________
License Number________________________________
License State and County, any other
identifiers on plate_____________
__________________________________________________________
Color_________________________
Special Markings or Dents_____________________________________
Tinted Windows? Yes No
Bumper Stickers?____________________________________________
|
|
VEHICLE
Van SUV Sedan Truck
Other___________
Brand and Model_______________________________
License Number________________________________
License State and County, any other
identifiers on plate_____________
__________________________________________________________
Color_________________________
Special Markings or Dents_____________________________________
Tinted Windows? Yes No
Bumper Stickers?____________________________________________
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