Author Topic: The scary part is this is just one of the goofy things lately in our area...  (Read 5294 times)

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Offline bellj

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Monday police log: Woman 'busy cooking dinner,' refuses to retrieve her 4-year-old child from neighboring store

An employee of a business in the 1700 block of North Central Avenue reported at 6:18 p.m. Sunday an unsupervised 4-year-old child was found in the store. Store employees found out the child and his 8-year-old brother had been inside the store without a parent and the older child had left the store. The mother of the 4-year-old was contacted and she told the store employee she was busy cooking dinner and could not retrieve her child. When the responding officer contacted the mother, she indicated the children were supposed to be outside playing in the sandbox. The sandbox was 40 yards away and out of her sight.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 12:36:07 PM by bellj »
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"

Offline bellj

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Here was another report from our newspaper this same past weekend (and our reports have been mild compared to Wisconsin Rapids the last few months...but they're getting closer):

Police

MARSHFIELD — A 41-year-old Marshfield man reported an unidentified man left three dead snakes at the rear entry of The Swamp, 511 S. Central Ave., at 11:19 p.m. Saturday. Police were not able to locate the individual.

I guess if you're going to pick a bar with the right name to leave them at...   LOL   :)
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"

Offline WetRaider

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Interesting. 
We've had some kids coming to our house to play on the trampoline.  Who knows what mom is doing, but their "instructions" are to ride the bus after school to the public library and stay occupied until the library closes at 6 pm - mom will be there to pick them up, then.  They've been coming to our house and leaving just before 6 to get to the library (it is 2 blocks down on our very street) - and they've been coming hungry.  Burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, cinnamon rolls … there's a 6 year old who just walks in, opens the fridge and says "Whoah!  Do you know you got all that stuff in there?  Can we eat some of what you have?"  They tend to leave the library to go to the service station across the street for a free bag of popcorn and pockets full of Sweet-n-Low ….
I've felt very badly for them, and try to feed them, but I did have to limit their afternoon snacks to sandwiches and cookies and fruit punch … between the three of them, they'd go through 6 or 8 cans of Coca-Cola per day.  I suppose they're supervised after 6.

If you didn't get wet, you didn't have fun ~ WetRaider

Dan O'Connor
1979 GT 150 / 1976 Mercury 1150

Offline bellj

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Wow - they're lucky kids to have found your household instead of some of the types you eventually hear about on the news!

I guess the reason these stories seem like a joke is because frequently around here they take (or at least threaten to take) the kids away as parental abuse if they even leave them (within the parents view) in the car for a quick moment to run into the gas station (not that there isn't any danger - especially depending on child's age - just minimal in comparison) - so it seems bizarre and like a joke when stories about some parents getting away with stuff like this surface. Of course probably the sickest reflection of all is that in the 50's & 60's there usually wouldn't have even been any danger in almost any community - even I remember going out to the car in the late 60's to sleep if my parents were at a dance or something...there was no perceived danger - but at the risk of actually sounding like my parents...times have changed even since I was a kid.   :(

Here's another recent example from our local paper of how things have changed - on one hand it's really sad because discourtesy has become so common place, and on the other it's almost humorous because it is so stupid:

"Letter: Easter egg hunt permitted awful behavior
EDITOR: I am writing today to share my experience with the Easter egg hunt on April 19 at the fairgrounds. I would like to share my utter disgust in the city’s lack of planning and for parental conduct at this event.

We had two different parents steal eggs out of my 4-year-old’s Easter basket. One parent actually knocked my son’s basket out of his hand and told his son “pick up the crying kid’s eggs.” This was to be a fun event, not a chance for parents to bully young children and act like looters. When I brought my complaint to an official, all she said was “parents can be cruel” and walked away from me.

Based on conversations I had with other parents, my son was not the only victim at the Easter egg hunt. As a family, we used it as a learning tool to teach our son the respectful way to act. I hope with this letter parents will look at their own conduct and what it is teaching their children. Hopefully next year, the city will better plan such events and have guidelines in place to prevent the many heartbreaks that occurred that day."
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"

Offline Eric_Michael

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...Of course probably the sickest reflection of all is that in the 50's & 60's there usually wouldn't have even been any danger in almost any community - even I remember going out to the car in the late 60's to sleep if my parents were at a dance or something...there was no perceived danger - but at the risk of actually sounding like my parents...times have changed even since I was a kid.   :(
...

I disagree & I agree.

I do not think the danger is any worse now then it was in the 50's & 60's.  In fact, I think it is less now then it was then.  Back then if abuse happened it was covered up, ignored, and denied.  I need to point no further than my family history, on both sides, for evidence.  No shame on me, buy me a beer and I'll tell you what you want to know.  Abusers were never accused, much less caught or punished.  The incidents were buried in the family's history and the victims were told to forget about it. 

Today our society is heavily monitored and people are inherently suspicious.  I think that makes it tougher for abusers to get away with it.  I think there is less abuse today per capita then there was 50 years ago as a result.  Abusers know there is high probability they will be caught, and they know there are mandatory punishments for those crimes.

However, I also agree with the comment about "perceived danger".  We have become a paranoid society which worries about every little thing.  99% of the people are good-hearted, morally centered people who would never harm a child.  Because the remaining 1% are a threat, all people are treated to the "Stranger Danger" attitude.  The 99% are in fear they might be wrongfully accused, so they do nothing and avoid contact with the kids of others.

I think the reason we are so scared is because every little incident is banner news in the media.  We 'think' there is more danger because every incident is brought to our attention, live and in person.  The news articles in this thread are evidence of that!  We have lost the innocence of 50 years ago, though I don't know if that is for better or for worse.

Just one guy's $.02...
-Eric

Offline bellj

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You bring up interesting points - kind of ironic since I originally meant these for the humorous irony rather than the more serious discussion side. Either way, you might be surprised that I actually agree with most of your points. I used to work in a nightclub and got to know many people who experienced similar examples of what you described. I learned how common things such as incest, abuse, and rape actually were and how they were commonly hushed up. And in a more minor example, I even remember my own father's family being embarrassed by cousins who were known for making moonshine - never seemed like that big a deal to me, but it sure was to them. You're absolutely right, things are a lot more known now, if for no other reason than easier access by virtue of technology such as the news media you pointed out.

I guess my original comments were more generalized "as a whole" rather than more specific exceptions such as the incest example. So "as a whole", I think the danger has grown - maybe not in every location/area at the same rate (I remember how much more polite people of Kansas City seemed in comparison to our area when we would visit there - but that was noticeably slowly changing over time too) - but it has changed - and for many reasons just like the news example you pointed out.

Let me try to give a summing example - the rural area seemed to have less danger, maybe due to less population and most knew their neighbors - but as the years and populations progressed, that seemed to change. We lived along a highway - when my grandparents were there, nobody ever thought of locking their doors (even though there were mobsters attending the supper club a half mile away (even my parents didn't learn until recent years that there was a brothel situation going on there, much less mobsters, so I'm certain my grandparents never knew)). I only heard of one time my grandfather locked things up like the basement windows...the night the news reported the Ed Gein reports (Plainfield is only ~40 miles away). But starting in the late 60's, we started to have to lock things up because we started to catch trespassers in sheds and experienced thefts...I even had a car stolen out of our driveway in the 80's...and finally we even had the house door kicked in one night. So we learned and adapted as the times changed even in our rural area - but it amazes me how many times we still notice people not locking their car doors when they go to a store...even my young daughter was pointing out the other day how someone left their keys in the ignition when they went into the store...and almost every week the police mention in the paper that people could prevent the thefts they called them for if they just would have locked their vehicle.

So on one hand, minor and major crime has always been there in one form or another - the difference I believe (depending on the area) is how frequent it is per area, how well known it is, and even how accepted it is - and I believe I've seen that change and is still changing in this area...and every area...just at different rates. I truly think you've made good points and I agree..I think we're saying similar things just in different ways about different portions of a very diverse subject.   :)
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"

Offline bellj

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I happened to think the other day - and before I go there since it could be a sensitive subject to some, I need to add that this is just an observation of certain human behavior that may be perceived as a bit humorous or maybe just quizzical and no disrespect is intended or implied of any specific situation and there is no doubt that there were "outlaws", bad behavior, and other lessor human traits during a time when it was easier to get away with things than technological advances allow today. And I have to assume there was a lot of stress in one form or another in those days too.

With that said - even though carrying guns was a way of life back in the frontier days - and I've read about massacres, etc, which maybe some would say are somewhat equivalent in comparison - but I don't ever remember hearing of someone from those times taking their gun(s) and shooting up their workplace and/or co-workers, or of their kids shooting up the school yard.

As I said, there are a lot of ways to look at that and it's definitely an apples to oranges comparison that can probably be analyzed many ways, but just something in it's raw form to hopefully make you go "hmm" about.   :)
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"

Offline Eric_Michael

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To throw a little Midwest out on this thread....

In the mid 1990's I traveled all over the US on a regular basis.  I installed PC based point-of-sale systems for restaurants (commonplace today, but this was 1995).  I absolutely loved going to the upper Midwest!  I would fly in, drive to the restaurant, and meet the customer.  Inevitably the customer would say something like 'Would you like to join us for dinner?'  They never meant 'at the restaurant', they meant 'at our home'!

Yeah, stranger from out of state, and they would welcome me in to their home!  I NEVER was treated to that openness anywhere else in the nation.  So there is a goodness in the upper Midwest which has been lost to the rest of the country.  Don't let it slip away because of fear and paranoia.

With that said - even though carrying guns was a way of life back in the frontier days -

You mean it is not a way of life today??   ;) 
But I digress, and that is probably a subject for a different thread (and different forum).

-Eric

Offline bellj

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Some of the overlap in our backgrounds is amazing...I used to be "on the road" (tri-state route area) in a different way just a few years before that working for a service contract business repairing computers, mainframes, and point-of-sale systems (networked cash registers at that time).

You sparked an interesting memory about Midwest hospitality. On the farm I grew up on, I don't ever remember the coffee pot not being on and most everyone who would come were invited in for coffee and whatever was on hand such as cake, cookies, or whatever (even if it was just the gas man delivering fuel)...and if they were repair or installation people that had to be there a while, my mother would usually put on a large meal (if it had been a large job on a hot day, some of my fondest memories were how good an ice cold beer tasted). That was just a normal "social" part of life, and I often heard my grandparents coffee pot before them was always on also. I always thought it was a bit more from my mother's Danish heritage, but I remember my German background grandmother on my father's side being pretty close to the same way. But as you mention, unfortunately some of that treatment has become rather rare today.

Of course, maybe that was part of the American "melting pot" way back then were traditions were mixed and people didn't get so offended by every little thing like they do now-a-days...but now I digress.   ;)

And yes you're right, today's concealed weapons are an interesting comparison to the frontier days.   :)
Jim, Patti, & Samantha
'69 Pipestone Princess O/B, '57 Evinrude Lark 35
'77 Glastron GT-150 O/B, '78 Merc 700, "The Puddle Jumper"
'77 Switzer GL-20 O/B, '77 Merc 1750
'86 Glastron CVX-20 O/B, '86 Merc 200, "The WHIZZard of Odds"