Dumb People do Crazy Things

You need a license to drive.

You need a license to get married.

You need a license to catch a fish for crying out loud.

Methinks you should also need a license to have a child. I mean really, not everyone is fit to be a parent, and I'd like to see some sort of screening process.

Take Nadya Suleman for instance. Surely her request for the license to have Children 7-14 would have been denied. Instead this crazy broad is in charge of forming 14 human beings into productive adults--without a job or a steady source of income. Should be a piece of cake.

When I lived in Key West, I saw a lot of crazy crap. People, who were friendly and nice, but also drunk and homeless, were on every street corner. Two weeks of the year you couldn't leave your house without seeing a drag queen wearing nothing but feathers or a middle aged woman wearing a painted on shirt. And once during my sentence on the island, I witnessed a mom (or who I assumed to be the mom) walk out of a gas station with a toddler who I'm guessing was about 2 years old. She opened the driver's door, the little boy (who was wearing no shoes as he toddled around the gas station, I might add) hopped in and climbed into the passenger seat. No car seat, not even a seat belt. AND SHE DROVE OFF. Like it was nothing--like he was a dog just tagging along with her. Here boy, hop in the car. Good dog.

I was shocked. And I called the police.

Then, there are people a little closer to home.

Last night we were out for a family stroll, the boys on their Lightening McQueen bikes, Lila in the stroller, Mike on his leash. We only made it a few houses before being greeted by two runaway dogs. Not far behind them was their owner who was running after them in her bare feet while holding the hand of a very chubby toddler. Rey tried to catch these dogs to help this woman--after all, we have been there. We have literally chased Mike for miles before.

The toddler's grandmother drives by in her gold Jaguar, and the mom puts the little boy in the front seat with the grandma. Okay, I'm withholding judgement here. She's trying to catch her dog, they're only in our neighborhood, she's probably taking him home right now. No reason to be alarmed. This isn't I-75 we're talking about. We fail at assisting in the dog catching and continue walking one way as the dog chase goes the opposite way down the circle.

We make it halfway around the 1 mile loop of our neighborhood and I see it, the gold Jag--flying down the street--with the little toddler standing on the center console, his head sticking out of the open sunroof. The speed limit here is 15 MPH (no one goes quite that slow) but she was easily going 30 or 35, perhaps even 40. The little boy's chubby cheeks were being pushed back into his ears from the force of the wind in his face. He laughed as she sped, she sped as he laughed.

I was pretty hot over this. Not to mention the speeding, but a car is not an amusement ride for a toddler, certainly not in a neighborhood like ours where kids are outside playing everywhere. What if one of my boys fell off his bike? Would she slam on her brakes to avoid hitting him? The joy-riding toddler would no doubt go flying.

I just do not understand this kind of irresponsible parenting. Sure, we all have days where we are struggling along to find our way, but negligence?

Well, at least we know she won't be out there angling without the proper education of fish conservation--you need a license for that. After all, we wouldn't want to see any fish harmed, right?