And now I can say that my boobs have been on the Internet.
So I voted yesterday, which made me very proud and pleased. Except I wasn't on the ball enough to re-register at my new address so I had to fill out a provisional ballot which may or may not even count. Whatever, though. I got to wear the "I'm cool and civic-minded" sticker and that's what really matters.
One of the polling stations was here in the library's meeting room, and around 6pm I discovered a tiny problem--namely, that there were about 3,000 small children running around unsupervised in the library. Lots of parents were coming to vote (yay!) and bringing their kids (also yay!). The dumping them off in the children's section and then leaving to go to a room at the other end of the building? Not so much yay.
There were kids who were crying because they didn't know where their parents were. There was the 4-year old who was roaming up and down the hallways with a trembling lip. There was the 7-yr old who'd been put in charge of an entire herd of kiddies. It was actually kind of heart-breaking.
I started with the criers first, marching them down the hall to their parents, who then got to listen to the Why We Do Not Leave Small Crying Children Alone talk. But it became clear that there were too many kids to do this one-by-one. So I went in the polling station, asked if I could make a brief announcement, stood on a chair, introduced myself, and requested that the parents who may have accidentally left their children in the library unattended and unsafe go retrieve those children right now.
Because seriously, people. Seriously!
The thing that baffles me is that these are good parents. These are probably parents who buy car seats and check to make sure they're properly installed. They worry about the amount of sugar and TV their kids get each day. They make sure the kids have enough clothes on and that their pajamas are flame-retardant. And yet, and yet, there's somehow this blind spot when it comes to leaving them alone and walking away, trusting that nothing will happen, or that if it does someone else will be watching out for them.
Who exactly is this "someone else" supposed to be? Another child? Busy library staff who have absolutely no way of knowing which kids are without a parent? Someone who claims to be a neighbor or "from the same ward" but who could actually be anyone? The registered sex offender from down the street who has come in to vote?
And it's not like these kids can take care of themselves. Let me tell you, I have never had a small child refuse to go with me when I say, "Let's go find your mom." They always take my hand and walk with me, even though I could be escorting them directly into the dark parking lot and possibly the trunk of my car. And it's scary to think of who else they might trust and follow.
So if any of the parents who read this have ever done something like this (whether it's a library or a waiting room or wherever) or have considered doing something like this, please please please rethink it. I'm not saying this just because I am a librarian who has enough to do without becoming an unwitting day-care provider, although that's certainly true. I am saying this because even though my heart may be mostly cold and shriveled and undersized, the bit that does work actually cares quite a lot about your children and wants them to be safe.
So I voted yesterday, which made me very proud and pleased. Except I wasn't on the ball enough to re-register at my new address so I had to fill out a provisional ballot which may or may not even count. Whatever, though. I got to wear the "I'm cool and civic-minded" sticker and that's what really matters.
One of the polling stations was here in the library's meeting room, and around 6pm I discovered a tiny problem--namely, that there were about 3,000 small children running around unsupervised in the library. Lots of parents were coming to vote (yay!) and bringing their kids (also yay!). The dumping them off in the children's section and then leaving to go to a room at the other end of the building? Not so much yay.
There were kids who were crying because they didn't know where their parents were. There was the 4-year old who was roaming up and down the hallways with a trembling lip. There was the 7-yr old who'd been put in charge of an entire herd of kiddies. It was actually kind of heart-breaking.
I started with the criers first, marching them down the hall to their parents, who then got to listen to the Why We Do Not Leave Small Crying Children Alone talk. But it became clear that there were too many kids to do this one-by-one. So I went in the polling station, asked if I could make a brief announcement, stood on a chair, introduced myself, and requested that the parents who may have accidentally left their children in the library unattended and unsafe go retrieve those children right now.
Because seriously, people. Seriously!
The thing that baffles me is that these are good parents. These are probably parents who buy car seats and check to make sure they're properly installed. They worry about the amount of sugar and TV their kids get each day. They make sure the kids have enough clothes on and that their pajamas are flame-retardant. And yet, and yet, there's somehow this blind spot when it comes to leaving them alone and walking away, trusting that nothing will happen, or that if it does someone else will be watching out for them.
Who exactly is this "someone else" supposed to be? Another child? Busy library staff who have absolutely no way of knowing which kids are without a parent? Someone who claims to be a neighbor or "from the same ward" but who could actually be anyone? The registered sex offender from down the street who has come in to vote?
And it's not like these kids can take care of themselves. Let me tell you, I have never had a small child refuse to go with me when I say, "Let's go find your mom." They always take my hand and walk with me, even though I could be escorting them directly into the dark parking lot and possibly the trunk of my car. And it's scary to think of who else they might trust and follow.
So if any of the parents who read this have ever done something like this (whether it's a library or a waiting room or wherever) or have considered doing something like this, please please please rethink it. I'm not saying this just because I am a librarian who has enough to do without becoming an unwitting day-care provider, although that's certainly true. I am saying this because even though my heart may be mostly cold and shriveled and undersized, the bit that does work actually cares quite a lot about your children and wants them to be safe.
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