What are You Teaching Your Children?

I lost my temper recently.  I was waiting for the green light and watched a woman, pushing her baby stroller across the intersection on the red light. It was a time of day where there was little to no traffic so I guess she reckoned it was okay.  I have seen so much of this, and I just exploded at her when she came out of the street.  “Don’t you ever  teach your child to cross a street on a red light  again!”, I screamed. The light finally changed to green, and I left her  staring with her mouth open. 

I have seen so much of this I guess my pent-up emotions just exploded out. What did she think she was teaching her child? This is the kind of stupidity that gets children killed!  It’s not even a matter if they’ll die.  It’s a matter of when they’ll die. Children look to their parents for guidance and protection. They want to be taught, but they need to be shown correctly.

And how about this woman? Some years ago she decided she was in a great big hurry. She entered this intersection on a yellow light and shoved her baby stroller right in front of an 

18-wheeler. If I live to be 10,000 will never forget the picture of that baby stroller, twisted and mangled sticking out the back of the front wheel of that 18-wheeler. Her baby was in that stroller! What did she teach her baby?

I have seen women grab their child’s hand and run across the middle of the block between the cars waiting for the light change.  I’ve seen them run so close between cars that they could touch both cars at once.  I have seen women stand in the middle of the street waiting for the cars to slow down so they could get their child across.  This became a problem of such epidemic proportions my city was obliged to put up chain link fences down the middle of the street near the new mall.  What did this mothers think they were teaching their children?

And men, just so you don’t feel left out, I was waiting for a bus one day.  It was just starting to get dark.  The bus stop was probably 30 or 40 feet from the corner.  A man stepped into the street just 3 feet from me.  On his right was a woman.  I assume his wife.  On her right was a little seven or eight-year-old boy.  When this man stepped into the street, he stepped right in front of a car.  The car had the green light, and had just crossed the intersection.  The driver slammed his brakes and stopped so close to the man that the man was able to slap his hood.  Then this man started yelling at the driver, telling him how stupid he was and how he should learn to drive. Believe me.  He wasn’t exactly using the kindest of language.  What was he teaching that child?