The buggy's load included not only the man's groceries but also what looked like a two or three year old girl seated on the mesh fold-down shelf intended to hold ladies' purses as they shopped. The child was facing the man and she was bawling her eyes out.
And each time she cried, the man reached back as he walked and slapped her across the face.
The little girl would stop crying for three or four seconds after she'd been hit, but then I suppose as the pain receptors kicked back in and each blow's impact registered as if for the first time that afternoon, she'd begin crying all over again.
Which brought another slap to her face and re-start the crying cycle.
The man kept on swatting the little girl as he walked, as casually as if he was slapping mosquitoes from his forearm. With total indifference, without even looking down to see what he was doing ... his mind was a million miles away from what he was doing ... as though he believed he could get away with slapping a three year old girl in the face, in public, without consequences whatsoever.
Because he was so much bigger. Because no adult came forward to stop him. Because he was convinced, on a Neanderthal level, that slapping the little girl was nobody's business but his .... because she belonged to him.
--
On a different afternoon I saw a haggard-looking woman in her late 60s wearing what looked like a greasy pillowcase stand beside a car and use a stick to reach the car's backseat and spank the children, most likely her grandchildren, inside.
I don't know how long this was going on before I got there but the children were already in tears. The woman continued angrily calling each one by name to "Git to this winder right now, you hear me?!" to make it easier for her to give that child its swats with her stick.
Then soon as the child jumped out of reach again she warned her bellowing target to "Stop that crying" and then called for the next one one to come close and get theirs.
I don't know how many times each child got a turn, but every one of them was screaming and running up and down, hopping back and forth over the backseat like scalded rabbits trying to stay away from her stick.
The woman was too worked up and emotionally involved, and the children dancing so hard to avoid her, that she stopped bothering to take aim at their backsides and began swinging wildly, blistering whatever part she could reach.
I'm sure enough time has passed for all the children in both those events to have children of their own. And maybe their children have children of their own, too. Because both incidents happened such a long time ago.
So long ago that the man who slapped the little girl and the grandma swinging away at a backseat full of screaming kids with her stick, if they aren't dead, surely have forgotten what they did. Come to think of it, I'm not sure either one of those adults would remember anything they'd done just a few hours after they'd done it.
---
Not too long ago several new stories got major headlines after a handful of airline pilots, in separate incidents, found themselves arrested, detained in jail and facing felony charges for flying drunk. No kidding. Turns out that both passengers and ground crew had concerns after noticing the pilots' erratic behavior, and notified authorities.
Until they found themselves in handcuffs and locked up in jail, it could be that every one of those pilots believed that what they were doing was simply business as usual and that no one on-board would care or bother to notice.
Apparently some passengers and ticket personnel didn't quite see things the same way.
---
What do I know about raising kids, being a grandparent, flying commercial jets or blogging about the Gospel?
I don't have children and I've never been either a parent or a grandparent. I've never been an airline pilot or flown commercial jets. Nor have I ever preached a single sermon or started so much as a single church.
But that lack of apparent qualifications doesn't mean I can't see, or that I don't have a brain ... or that I'm too deaf to prayerfully listen and hear.
I'm sure enough time has passed for all the children in both those events to have children of their own. And maybe their children have children of their own, too. Because both incidents happened such a long time ago.
So long ago that the man who slapped the little girl and the grandma swinging away at a backseat full of screaming kids with her stick, if they aren't dead, surely have forgotten what they did. Come to think of it, I'm not sure either one of those adults would remember anything they'd done just a few hours after they'd done it.
They hadn't suffered any pain or endured any trauma: the man was just being a father and the woman was only doing what she thought best, too. Kids have to learn, for crying out loud. So why waste time over-analyzing long-ago events that never mattered much in the first place, especially when nobody remembers?
And after all this time, what's the point in wondering how those children may have been affected? Maybe those kids got exactly what they needed, learned a good lesson, and never acted up again ever, not even one time for the rest of the lives. Ever.
And after all this time, what's the point in wondering how those children may have been affected? Maybe those kids got exactly what they needed, learned a good lesson, and never acted up again ever, not even one time for the rest of the lives. Ever.
But I doubt it. Wonder what punishment they received the next time?
---
Not too long ago several new stories got major headlines after a handful of airline pilots, in separate incidents, found themselves arrested, detained in jail and facing felony charges for flying drunk. No kidding. Turns out that both passengers and ground crew had concerns after noticing the pilots' erratic behavior, and notified authorities.
Until they found themselves in handcuffs and locked up in jail, it could be that every one of those pilots believed that what they were doing was simply business as usual and that no one on-board would care or bother to notice.
Apparently some passengers and ticket personnel didn't quite see things the same way.
---
What do I know about raising kids, being a grandparent, flying commercial jets or blogging about the Gospel?
I don't have children and I've never been either a parent or a grandparent. I've never been an airline pilot or flown commercial jets. Nor have I ever preached a single sermon or started so much as a single church.
But that lack of apparent qualifications doesn't mean I can't see, or that I don't have a brain ... or that I'm too deaf to prayerfully listen and hear.
