Nowhere to Run
When I was 5, my mom left me in the car when she went shopping. When I did go in with her, she let me roam the store to look for the toy aisle. If I had to use the restroom, I went by myself. No, she wasn’t a bad mom deserving of having CPS called on her, that was the norm. Everyone did it. Sure, there were bad people, and yes, someone could have harmed me, but it rarely happened. The world was different.
When my son was 5, although there were a few times I wanted to leave him in the car while I shopped in peace, there was no way I would do so. Besides the fact that someone would call the authorities, I feared that someone would kidnap him. Once inside the store, he was with me at all times, he was not even allowed to go to the restroom without me, for fear someone might molest him. The world was different.
Today, my grandson is 5. I no longer want to even take him to a store, for fear he may get shot and killed. The world is different. AND THERE’S NOWHERE TO RUN.