Posted on 07/24/2006 6:12:21 AM PDT by Samwise
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 3-year-old boy was fatally injured when a floor-mounted mirror fell on him at an Indianapolis Wal-Mart.
Police said Christopher Antonio was apparently playing near the 5-foot-tall mirror in the children's section of the store Saturday evening when it fell at the store in the 3200 block of 86th Street.
The boy was with his 5-year-old sister and his mother. The mother told police she was about 5 feet away from her son when she heard a loud crash.
Police said it took two people to pull the mirror off the boy.
Because mirrors were just installed better back then, darn it. :)
The boy was killed by a falling mirror- you will recall mirrors were around in the 50s. A few other things that were around in the 50s- flamable drapes-indoor smokers!, faulty building materials, shoddy craftsmanship, and even bad people bent on harming others.
Leaving a child unattended exposes that child to any of these things and more and is just as negligent as letting a child play next to a mirror, whether it is in the 50s or the 00s.
Nope. But, the childs mother wasn't either. That is my point.
Not me!? Was that comment meant for me? Patton Fan<<<
The mother screwed up, but every parent on the planet loses track of their kid in a place they can get hurt at one time or another. Its tragic and she really should have known where the kid was but making a mistake does not imply she is a poor mother, the kid is out of control, or that WallMart had no fault
What I take exception to is that people here are using this even to feel better about themselves (I'm a great parent, I *DONT EVER* lose track of my kid), their kids (My kid would *NEVER go off five feet and get into trouble), and their parents (my parents raised me so that I *NERVER* disobey anyone). This back-padding fest by all these uber parents is infuriating when but for the grace of God this could have happened to them (losing a kid).
A] She and her siblings were sitting as they were directed by their mother so she knew where they were.
B] That was 40 or 50 years ago and times were different. Children weren't being abducted, molested, and murdered as they are now.
You are letting your emotions get the best of you.
I won't go into that other thread other than to say that I disagree with you.
As for compassion, I totally disagree. We are seen as mean because we are tough. We hold high standards and demand that people meet them. Guess what? We hold ourselves to those same standards and that's why we move forward. We're not mean, we just mean what we say. We have beliefs and standards and the left doesn't.
Bush used the term to convince us that he was a conservative and to hide the fact that he loved big government and wanted to spend lots of money showing his love. He sure isn't compassionate about the people whose money he's taking to show his compassion, is he?
This is probably partly due to fear. I have seen children running off from their parents and tried helping the parent get the child back. They look at people who do that like they're child molesters and don't even say thank you.
Ping.
Hey, that was *my* TV killing 3-year-old thread. What about it?
The point of posting it was that it was the 2nd time it had happened in less than a week in our city - and it's something that only happens 6 times a year, on average, so I thought it was noticeably worthy of discussing.
On *this* thread, I'm not certain what happened to make the mirror fall, so I can't assign responsibility until we know more about it. If we find out the mother has lost two other children in the past in similar incidents, then maybe we have a clue.
If we find out it was one of those full-length mirrors fitted into a frame with swivels on the sides holding it in place and the kid's sibling was playing see-saw with it, that would be a different clue. For one thing, it shouldn't have been that far from a wall that it could have swiveled a whole length. Or if the stand was too flimsy (I've seen those) or the swivels had torn through the mountings (seen that, too), then that's another different clue.
If we find out that "floor-mounted" meant that a full-length mirror was leaned up against the wall with nothing holding it (I've seen that, but maybe not at Wal-Mart), that would be a different clue.
It didn't fall from "above" so wasn't wall-mounted on a false wall, like the one accident cited in an article above, and wasn't ceiling-mounted - so whether screws or wire or whatever mounting was used that didn't hold the weight probably won't be an issue.
Was it in the children's *shoes* department? It didn't say, but those floor-mounted mirrors are more like 5 feet wide than 5 feet tall - and they are pitched forward from the back, so that the reflection is downward on the feet and shoes being tried on. I could see problems with something like that.
At any rate, now I'm feeling guilty that when I go to Wal-Mart, I've always used the shopping cart to put my purchases in! Without children to put in them, I was not aware they are provided as kiddie corrals, as you said they are. Boy, do I feel stupid! I saw other people doing it, too, though, so I'm not the only one.
I heartily agree with you on every post DJ. And said something similar earlier on.
Am I getting confused with another poster, or courtesy pinged? Boy! I leave to have lunch for an hour..
OUCHHHHHH!!!! Were you seriously injured?
Really kids did not get kidnapped in the 50's?
"In September 1953, six-year-old Bobby Greenlease was kidnapped from an exclusive Kansas City prep school and brutally murdered across the state line in Johnson County, Kansas. The kidnappers were Carl Austin Hall and Bonnie Emily Brown Heady, two drug addicted alcoholics cohabiting in St. Joseph, Missouri."
I suppose objects did not fall, fires did not start, and no harm could possible come....
Some people are of the opinion that rudeness will get their wheels greased faster. Even here.
Sad, but true.
Here in Midland its not so bad, but its still not like it used to be. Scary to have children these days.
Not at all . . . I was just REALLY awake that morning. I had a nice lump up there for a few days, though.
Nor in the 30s
LOL
Kudos for spanking your kids.
I think that the generational thing makes the biggest difference. I'm a year younger than DJ. I was raised much as she was and raised my (step)kids the same way. I wasn't always good, but I was punished. Same with my kids. They both are following the same path.
Parenting is about giving the kids two things -- roots and wings. Roots as a solid foundation and a basis for handling life, and wings as the opportunity to soar to new heights. If either one is missing, life is going to be a lot tougher for them.
You're welcome.
This thread overfloweth with emotions that tend to blind rather than illuminate.
You can come up with a million scenarios...
I feel accidents happen ... we have no idea what the scenario is - why the child was not in the cart... maybe he was - she pulled him out to try on clothes.
It is so silly to be arguing this when there are no facts. We have no idea if this horror could have been prevented. As you read through the thread - people are talking about the child pulling the mirror over ... we don't know that. I do wonder about a mirror that could topple so easily - obviously it wasn't secured properly for a public place.
Those who've said have total control of their kids every single second of the day are living in a fantasy world. Of course being careful and watchful of your children is the parents responsibility - but accidents do happen.
I do find it interesting you blame your grandfather for your incident with the shopping cart.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. That is exactly what I was thinking.
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