Locked In The Car

I had to do a double take as I pulled into a parking space at the Costco on Rosedale Highway Monday afternoon.

The little girl, probably 3 or 4, was asleep inside a Volvo station wagon in the parking lot.

An employee of Costco was walking up to the car as my wife and I got out of ours right next door.
The child never stirred or seemed to even realize three adults were staring at her through the glass.

The mom was no where in sight.

Before I get too carried away with how wrong and dangerous this is, I've left my 2-yr old son buckled in his car seat twice as I ran inside a store for something.

Once to grab a receipt for gas at the pump, and another time to tell the clerk at the AMPM that the gas pump was not working.

Both times I was inside for about 15 seconds, and both times I never stopped staring at my car as I talked to the clerks.

A combination of paranoia and guilt about leaving my son in the car that I tried to compensate by the fact that he was never out of my sight.

I know, I ran inside for just a second, and that's all it takes sometimes.

But running inside the Costco?

I've been inside Costco for 1 item before and it usually takes about 15 minutes at the very least.

Plus, there's no way to see your child.

The manager walked out as we stood there, and checked the scene before he called the police and CPS.

A quick reaction?

Maybe, but he's thinking of the child's safety, not to mention, the store's responsibility.

The mother reappeared a couple minutes later, carrying a portable car seat with an infant in it.

I was already inside the store, when the manager found me and said the police wanted to get a statement from me.

I went outside and saw the mom sitting in her back seat with both kids.

Officers had talked with their superiors and were going to give her a ticket.

They didn't need my statement after all, since they were not taking the child into protective custody.

I didn't have a camera with me at the time.

I then wondered if I did, how that might help put an end to such a dangerous practice by many American's by picking on one mother.

It's not fair.

She's not the only one.

Then I realized what an effect it had on me, watching the scene unfold.

Especially when informed by the Costco manager that it's not the first time this has happened in their parking lot.

Talk about a double take.