And that’s all we know. That for the 30 minutes in Starbucks on that particular day, the daughter was ignored.
As for all the rest of her life, we don’t know. And I’m not going to accept the a total stranger’s assumptions on the parenting abilities of the mother without more proof.
Would you accept that sort of practice against you and your children?
Also, how many of us can say that we’ve never, EVER ignored a kid at any time? Even the best slip up once and a while.
Had this been about someone the author knew... I’d think differently. But this was a random stranger the guy saw once at a Starbucks.
We are not talking about evidence in a court of law. I don’t think the author was attempting to put the mother away. But I think that if the mother ignored the child in the circumstance that I mentioned, then she would probably ignore the child in more child-friendly surroundings. Probably but possibly not. Maybe there was an emergency. Maybe it was the first and last time that she ever texted. But it was certainly enough to use an example to illustrate a phenomenon.
..and I would never have thought of letting my children crawl around a place where folks come to drink hot hot coffee.
Maybe parents are more casual today....but I kept mine in strollers, or their carrying seats....or held them.
She disregarded the other customers.....in essence making them the baby sitters to her child.
Sure, maybe she needed 'down time'....and there was no one to watch her child....maybe she was ignorant of germs on the floor and hot coffee hovering above...
..but I cannot excuse the risk she took with her child.