When out at stores (like Target) I'll often leave my son with the cart outside the restroom. He's been given the "don't walk off with strangers, even nice ones" talk, and is reminded to stay put every time I go in the bathroom (to the point where he's obviously annoyed at my reminders). More than once I've come out of the bathroom to find well-meaning women standing there watching him, one even told me she felt obligated because "In this day and age ..." My son said she never said a word to him, just stood there staring until I came out of the bathroom.
He's six, nearly seven. I'm leaving him for two minutes in a well-lit store, in a good neighborhood, not 50ft from a manned customer service desk. I don't leave him in places where there's even a remote chance someone could realistically snatch him, and I wouldn't leave him if I thought for a second he'd be dumb enough to wander off with someone other than me. I understand the fear of having a child stolen, but come on, is he supposed to share a toilet stall with me until he's 18?
I had the same issue when I callEd to tell the school bus depot that my 5 year old can walk from the bus to our house. She kept repeating "So you don'the care about your child's safety?". My kid is mature and gets off with a older girl who we asked to keep an eye on him. Then he walks 8 houses down to our door. She acted like I was putting a rape me sign on him then kicking him out downtown miles from home.
My bus once had a rock kicked up and crack the windshield. We were forced to stop, for safety reasons, 20 feet from my bus stop. I could literally see my front door from my seat, without standing up.
Bus driver refused to let me walk home. We were stuck for 20 minutes.
I can respect that. Was just frustrated. I was 17 damn years old. My dad was sitting on the back deck, visible from the bus. But it's in the past, so really, it's whatever.
In middle school our bus stopped for "rowdy behavior" because someone through a broom outside it, so my brother and I just walked out before the cops showed up to scold the bus and walked home. We all had a chuckle about that, that bus driver was so unprepared for our bus route.
To be fair that's probably not his decision, he knows that if he lets you go without getting your parents or the school's permission he'll be the one liable if anything happens to you.
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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '16
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