Over at the Washington Post: Forgetting a child in the back seat of a hot, parked car is a horrifying, inexcusable mistake. But is it a crime?
It’s kind of a moot question since it might be hard to find a worse punishment than the guilty are already going through… This was one of the hardest articles to read in recent memory. I tried to relate to the parents in the story, but it’s just hard for me to believe that people can completely forget about their own babies in their cars.
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This trend seems to happen mostly here in the overly-stressed, hyperactive, uber multi-tasked, constantly distracted and cell-phone crazy USA.
I read that article with great interest because it highlights the area of the brain that hijacks memory and reason, and allows you to go stupid-blank.
I’ve never forgotten a baby in my car but I have forgotten airline tickets at home, food cooking on the stove, perishable groceries in the car and have been late to pick up my children on time after school. I recall moments of panic and shock at my own crazy-busy life and knowing that my brain had somehow “misplaced” what is normally a high priority command.
And I wonder at people who are so quick to blame and judge harshly.
You are right. It is the worst punishment of all to kill your child accidentally. Excellent article, thank you.