I am with you. I wonder if some of the unbelievable smug people here are really teens. They don’t act, sound or feel like adults. Anyone who has had children knows deep down that there have been times that any one of us could be in these poor people’s shoes. They must be in an agony that is impossible to imagine.
I can think of five close calls we had with babies so I know how this can happen. Distraction, fatigue, lack of sleep, lives too busy, driving and thinking about the day ahead, a baby sleeping in the back seat, facing backwards so you don’t see them.
Nobody deserves this, the baby the parents, nobody. It is tragic and horrible.
At least then there's an excuse, although still not a satisfactory one, for their smugness.
A few years back (same place of employment), a smiliar situation to the one in the story happened to two of my coworkers. They were married (to each other)--and it was usually mom who took the baby to the day care. But, she had to be in earlier than normal for a meeting, so it was up to dad this day to take the baby to the sitter...something he did not normally do. When mom got off work she walked over to the daycare (close to our work), to pick up the baby. She was told the baby wasn't there, hadn't been dropped off. SO, she called her husband on the cell phone and asks where the baby was...
Reports from other coworkers is that he ran like a bat out of hell to the parking lot, mom ran from the daycare--the baby was still in the car.
FOrtunately, even though it was September, we had had an abnormally cool/overcast day. The baby, though dehydrated, was fine. The cops wouldn't let mom or dad in the back of the ambulance as the baby was taken to the hospital, but both parents were in hysterics.
My dad once left my sister and me at a gas station in Salinas, CA..he thought all kids were accounted for and in the car. He drove a good 20 miles before he realized something was amiss.