(Below is an unedited letter submitted to us by a reader. TLS welcomes your letters at thelakewoodscoop@gmail.com . The views are solely those of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of TLS).One day this week I went to the cleaners and when I got out of my car I noticed that in the car next to me there was a baby sitting in the car seat with no one watching it and the engine on! Did it ever occur to you that someone can get in to the car and drive off ?!? Yes, I waited for you to come out and timed how long you were inside for... OVER 10 minutes!!! You didn't check on your child once!!!! Do you realize that if someone were to report you c"v, your kids can be taken away from you?!? Just for running in to get your cleaners...You can get locked up...The 30 seconds you saved by not taking your child out of the car, could cost you hours upon hours of explaining in the police station...You could have the burden of dealing with the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)...even if you ran in for just 30 seconds. Please wake up!...Before it's too late.
Signed,
A father who cares.
14 comments:
I wish people would wake up already!!! I had a similar story a couple of days ago here in Lakewood where I went to find the mother in the store on line waiting to pay!!
According to my Rav, one is OBLIGATED to call the police in such an instance. Otherwise, you are a possible accessory to murder!
The whole tone of this letter is wrong. The issue is not waiting a few hours in the Police Station; it is possibly MURDERING YOUR CHILD!
I am a manager in a shopping plaza and see this routinely and when you mention something to the parent they look at me like I fell of the moon.
I had a story last week when it was 90 degrees out side and I pull up to the pharmacy and see three children in the back seat of the car. One was a newborn who was wailing quite loud to grab my attention from a distance away. I went to try to find the mother and when I did I asked if she realized what she was doing? She replied that she was waiting for a prescription and she would be out momentarily. I asked if she realizes how hot it is in the car? She replies the window are open!
RABBOSAI!! OPEN UP YOUR EYES!!
The tempeture inside a car WITH THE WINDOWS OPEN will climb over 100 with minutes!
Back to the pharmacy: The pharmacist was smart enough and told the woman to go out to the car and he will bring it out to her. She still refused because her car had no a/c anyway. To which I conviced her to drive around until her order was ready.
Is it going to take another tragedy chas veshalom to wake everybody up to the dangers?? Is your child's life worth 30 seconds of your time??
Have a safe and healthy summer
Back to the pharmacy: The pharmacist was smart enough and told the woman to go out to the car and he will bring it out to her. She still refused because her car had no a/c anyway.
**************
Unbelievable, she risks her kids lives but won't go into the car herself because there is no AC?!
This lady belongs in jail.
I am the poster of #3
To fill in a drop of the blanks in response to shani's coment.
The lady felt it served no purpose to go out the her kids in the car because she had no air conditioning. I made her drive around the parking lot until the prescription was ready. But I did have the phone in my hand to call the police.
I had a similar incident and opened the doors so kids should have some air. I waited at the car and had someone search for the parent. When the parent did finally show he thought I was the crazy one calling him out for this?! It just amazes me how a parent can have the heart to do that to their own children its mind boggling. They are either to young or to stupid to have children.
To the comment that "Real Yid" left;
By know means am I a Rov nor do I wish to disagree with your Rov.
Perhaps this Rov does not realize that Hatzolah and Chaveirim have more know how in opening a vehicle and a faster response time then the police would. I would think that if this is what your Rov believes then this "psak" might be better disseminate the thru a basically anonymous posting on TLS.
In know way do I mean to be belligerent to the poster. I simply feel that this is a serious statement to make with out it being verified. Should someone follow this advice it could have disastrous consequences. And before anyone replies, saying that I'm downplaying the situation. I am certainly not. It is extremely dangerous and can be potentially fatal. But a blog is not the place to pasken that a mother have her children taken away from her or worse for a mistake, albeit a seriously stupid and dangerous one.
The issue of calling police is not for getting access into a car but rather driving the point home to the parent that what he/she is doing is DANGEROUS and ILLEGAL. In most situations the windows ARE open and doors unlocked. Sometimes even engine running. The danger comes from the heat of the car and/or kidnapping c"v. The heat can and will rise very fast EVEN WITH the windows open
If someone R"L forgot its a mistake and its sad .... But Its the pep who do it on purpose bec "ill be out in 2 they say" those pep need there heads fixed if u can't handle taking them places DON'T ! But don't leave them in the car bec "its to hard to take them out"
i am a Chaveirim member and cannot begin to tell you how many times we get called for children locked in cars. What is disturbing is when a mother asked me "what is the whole emergency" ??!! "common sense is not so common"
While I think it's very irresponsible to leave kids in cars, I agree that involving the police is a BAD idea. 1. Being moser to goyim is a serious offense. 2.If the media finds out its a chillul Hashem. 3.In the worst case scenarios, kids who are taken from the parents might be placed in goyish families. We need another way to deal with this issue (as well as parents who leave kids alone at home with monitors or with undocumented cleaning help.)
In certain situations if you do not involve the police then the entire subject becomes a joke. Only when someone is threatend with prison and/or removal of their children does the point get driven home. Sometimes being "told so" doesn't sink in, but when one of "Lakewood's Finest" starts putting the cuffs on it will all sink in.
Forget the police or DYFUS, not wanting to deal with them should not be your reason for not leaving your children in the car - there is a larger issue at hand, that of the possible DEATH of a child left in a car.
To the individual concerned about being masir to a goyishe agency, I think the danger to a child's life trumps that concern.
Apparently someone wrote about leaving children in the car in The voice too. And I would love to share what one "brilliant" parent responded "....To suggest that parents always take all the children out of the car every time they make a short stop is completely not practical and frankly, unnecessary."
Irresponsible and lazy parents dont want to inconvenience themselves by taking their kids out of the car with them. Sounds like they talking about their pets.
Get your heads screwed on your shoulders, act rationally and watch your children. If not STOP HAVING THEM. What a chillul hashem.
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