humanitarian me
Jul. 22nd, 2005 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamajoanJust now I was watching the Red Sox game and thinking, "what are those bright flashes from outside?" Then I realized it was lightning. Then I heard the thunder. So I got up and went to look out the front door, thinking, "thunder and lightning with no rain, how odd." Then it started to pour. ;)
And then I noticed, as I had earlier when parking my car, that the neighbors' car had its windows open. I was in my nightgown, but I went and threw on some clothes and went out in the rain to tell them. I was just getting to their walkway when the woman came out with car keys on hand -- so, I didn't actually get to do the good deed, but I still get points for neighborliness, right? And now I am damp. ;)
Similarly, yesterday at the beach I noticed a little boy around 4 or 5 wandering around going "mom? moooom?" I kept an eye on him for a bit, but no woman came over to claim him, and then he was headed for the parking lot so I jumped up and ran over to stop him. I asked him if he had lost his mom and he said yes, so I said what color was her umbrella (dumb question, what kid notices his mom's beach umbrella, but it was what popped into my head) and he said they didn't have an umbrella. So then I started herding him over to the lifeguards' station, figuring that they're high up so they could just bring him up on their platform and make an announcement and his mom would see. But before we got there, she appeared. So, again, I didn't get to complete the good deed, but I still get points for intent. Go me.
And now I keep thinking, if that had been me (the mom), would I have believed some strange chick when she said she was just taking him to the lifeguards? I don't know. But you can bet I would have been running all kinds of nightmare scenarios in my head (where would she have taken him if I hadn't shown up just then? etc.). It's so easy to get lost at the beach, even as an adult!, when there are so many umbrellas and people and piles of belongings. And he was just the age where you'd let him go down to the water's edge and play, and you'd keep just half an eye on him, so if he got up and ran off, you could totally miss it. Ugh. I hope it didn't take too many years off that mom's life.
Man, that rain is really coming down now. Wow.
And then I noticed, as I had earlier when parking my car, that the neighbors' car had its windows open. I was in my nightgown, but I went and threw on some clothes and went out in the rain to tell them. I was just getting to their walkway when the woman came out with car keys on hand -- so, I didn't actually get to do the good deed, but I still get points for neighborliness, right? And now I am damp. ;)
Similarly, yesterday at the beach I noticed a little boy around 4 or 5 wandering around going "mom? moooom?" I kept an eye on him for a bit, but no woman came over to claim him, and then he was headed for the parking lot so I jumped up and ran over to stop him. I asked him if he had lost his mom and he said yes, so I said what color was her umbrella (dumb question, what kid notices his mom's beach umbrella, but it was what popped into my head) and he said they didn't have an umbrella. So then I started herding him over to the lifeguards' station, figuring that they're high up so they could just bring him up on their platform and make an announcement and his mom would see. But before we got there, she appeared. So, again, I didn't get to complete the good deed, but I still get points for intent. Go me.
And now I keep thinking, if that had been me (the mom), would I have believed some strange chick when she said she was just taking him to the lifeguards? I don't know. But you can bet I would have been running all kinds of nightmare scenarios in my head (where would she have taken him if I hadn't shown up just then? etc.). It's so easy to get lost at the beach, even as an adult!, when there are so many umbrellas and people and piles of belongings. And he was just the age where you'd let him go down to the water's edge and play, and you'd keep just half an eye on him, so if he got up and ran off, you could totally miss it. Ugh. I hope it didn't take too many years off that mom's life.
Man, that rain is really coming down now. Wow.
