Father loses custody of son over lemonade

WZZM 13 Website ^ | 4-28-08 | Brian Dickerson

[mombyprofession]

If you watch much television, you've probably heard of a product called Mike's Hard Lemonade.

And if you ask Christopher Ratte and his wife how they lost custody of their 7-year-old son, the short version is that nobody in the Ratte family watches much television.

The way police and child protection workers figure it, Ratte should have known that what a Comerica Park vendor handed over when Ratte ordered a lemonade for his boy three Saturdays ago contained alcohol, and Ratte's ignorance justified placing young Leo in foster care until his dad got up to speed on the commercial beverage industry.

Even if, in hindsight, that decision seems a bit, um, idiotic.

Ratte is a tenured professor of classical archaeology at the University of Michigan, which means that, on a given day, he's more likely to be excavating ancient burial sites in Turkey than watching "Dancing with the Stars" - or even the History Channel, for that matter.

[Eaker]

If this hard lemonade was an alcoholic beverage, wouldn’t the dad have been carded when he ordered it?

When my daughter was 7 I was about 38. I didn't get carded much.

[Eaker]

IBC Root Beer and Cream Soda.

Heavy glass bottle and a metal twist of cap.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping, post. Interesting & unusual.

Here’s a ping, Westlander.

[Fred Nerks]

Chris Ratte's sisters, Catherine Miller and Felicity Ratte, left Massachusetts at 10:30 the night of the fateful lemonade purchase after the police officer who'd reluctantly requested a removal order told Ratte the state would likely jump at the chance to place Leo with responsible relatives. But when the two women arrived at the CPS office early Sunday, a caseworker explained they would not be allowed to see Leo until they had secured a hotel room.

The sisters quickly complied. But by the time they returned to CPS around 10:30 a.m., their nephew had been taken to an undisclosed foster home, where he would remain until a preliminary court hearing the following afternoon...

Sounds suspiciously vindictive to me. Could this incident be race-related? Let's get that uppity whitey and his little kiddie too, hmmm?

But there was really nothing any of them could do, they all said. They were just adhering to protocol, following orders.

the good old Nuremberg defence.

Christopher Ratte, 47, of Ann Arbor says he had no idea that the lemonade he bought for son Leo, 7, at Comerica Park three weeks ago, contained alcohol.

I had my first glass of red wine in Naples when I was eight years of age. I find this entire story totally incomprehensible.

[Pelham]

“This is nothing more than the goon squad sending a message to parents saying “WE RUN THE SHOW.” “

It’s not that. It’s rule-obsessed bureaucrats terrified of using common sense and independent judgement. I worked for this sort years ago and know exactly how they operate. If there isn’t a circle in Hell reserved for them then there is something very wrong with the world.

The child is very lucky one of the fools in charge didn’t have a rule book that was misprinted, because if it said to feed the child into a wood chipper they would have tried to do it.

[Eaker]

Oh yeah, we had the eggnog too but I never liked it.

Sniff ....... we can no longer be friends........

Santa brings eggnog to all the good old men around Christmas.

Sniff ......... My wife has eggnog delivered to the house in a converted fuel oil truck and they fill the eggnog tank in the basement that I dug with a spoon after breaking thru the slab with a bigger, different spoon.

Sniff, so long old friend.

[Twink]

My husband got carded at TGIFridays recently. We’re both in our early 40’s. I was sorta ticked I didn’t get carded.

As for this Mike’s lemonade thing, until 3 yrs ago I wouldn’t have known it was booze and probably wouldn’t have checked had I ordered a lemonade for my kids.

Oooh, and on the carded thing. They now card here when buying cigarettes and one has to be 19, not 18 or 21, but 19. Freaky.

[Twink]

LOL Eggnog is nasty.

There you go teasing me again. Good thing I read your post twice or I woulda believed you ;) Meanie.

I’m still invited to that shoot thing right? I could bring an Ice Luge. Or, I could always mail my homemade Irish Cream or Dago red wine, or hell, I’ll give you the recipe to my husband’s rockin’ jello shots.

Meanie.

[lepton]

I know vodka sauce and beer bread don’t have appreciable alcohol in them when finished products. Nor do malted milk balls.

[chesley]

I’ve got a PhD, and know a lot of PhD’s. Hate to say it, but common sense is not the quality that they are most noted for. I mean, look how many are Dhimmicrats.

[TheMom]

I am not a big fan of Eggnog either. But it is always in my fridge from the moment they start selling, until it is no longer on the shelves. If they sold it year round, it would be a staple just like milk & T.P.

Would be great if you & hubby could make it to the shoot. But in the event that you cannot ~ you had better put the homemade Irish Cream, Dago red wine & hubby’s rockin’ jello shots recipe in the mail quick . . . maybe you should FedEx it second day air!! As we leave for for the shoot on Thursday. ;-)

[chesley]

I don't know, Jones sodas like they sell at Cracker Barrel and other places comes in glass. so does Frostie Root Beer, and several other brands. It's not overwhelmingly common, but it's common enough.

[50mm]

Note to self, proof read before posting. ALCOHOLIC beverage.

Don't believe you. How many have you had tonight? ....Uh, huh.....Please recite the alphabet backwards starting with Z....Nice.... Now blow into this tube.

[Barnacle]

"Once the court has authorized a child's removal," Patterson told me, "we cannot return the child to the parental custody" until the court has OK'd it.

Gestapo nightmare!

This guy is a professor, who to his credit, does not watch TV. He's not a tattooed biker out to laugh at his kid falling down drunk.

[Twink]

LOL! so not fair.

None. Yet. But I’m getting close. I could go for a Coors Light right about now ;) It’s been a busy day.

[50mm]

Here. Have some of this. It's a cheaper buzz:

[50mm]

Have some of the stuff your 10 year old cousin, Jethro McCoy is cooking in the back yard:

[Twink]

Well I could give you my Mom’s eggnog recipe then you wouldn’t have to buy the icky stuff ;) It is a staple along with other homemade beverages in our fridge. Still can’t find her recipe for lushalo (sp), this thing we had on Easter Sundays.

Heh, you guys live in Texas. A bit too far from NJ. Maybe next year because I know I would love to come. Sounds fun.

Gonna send the recipes via freepmail, tonight or tomorrow. My Irish Cream (ok, it’s my Mom’s recipe) surpasses Bailey’s. Can’t say about the Dago Red Wine as it’s yucky to me but many like it. Even I like my husband’s rockin’ jello shots and I don’t normally do shots. The colors are pretty too ;) I prefer the blue for Penn State but hell, I even did the green for ND ;) He has perfected jello shots and Margaritas so I’m told, since I don’t drink those either. Just give me a beer, preferably a light beer since I’m old now :) and I’ll be happy.

Going to search/send the recipes now via freepmail. Come Christmas, I’ll send actual bottles, it’s our staple gift. All the neighbors get bottles of Irish Cream.

[Twink]

Ack. Only beer for me. And don’t make fun of my family, lol. Nothing better than homemade food and booze :)

[50mm]

And don’t make fun of my family, lol.

But your family is so much fun: