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CalifChick -> RE: I Admit It I........ (4/19/2010 3:21:05 PM)
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I was feeling too lazy to dig back and find the "I'm thankful for..." thread (uhhhhh... we DID have a thread like that, didn't we?), so I decided to use this one instead.
I admit this is long, but it helps to type it out.
I admit that my day took an unintended turn today. First I went to the state office to apply for the state program to help with my car's smog failure issue. Twenty minutes later I was out the door with my acceptance letter in hand. Then I went to the closest DMV office to pay my registration and get the 60-day extension on my smog inspection (I was told I needed the acceptance letter to do that), and the parking lot was packed with people (and I didn't have an appointment), so I drove on to the next DMV office... an office I didn't really want to go to.
I stood in line for probably 20 minutes or more just to get a number from the information desk (you don't stand in lines at the windows anymore, an information chick gives you a letter/number combo depending on why you're there, and they call your letter/number and flash them on big screens). My particular problem was apparently not very common today because there were only 4 numbers ahead of mine. Yay! I'll be out of here soon!
So I'm standing off to the side and I see an older man (grandpa maybe??) with a little one in a stroller, perhaps 10 months old, about five feet or so away from me. I saw him being rough with the little one, pushing him down in the stroller, jerking his arm, swearing at him, etc. I was watching him surreptitiously and I was getting ready to step in and make a loud ruckus if he injured the baby. Then my number was called.
The window I went to was right in front of where I had been standing, and I told the girl what I saw and that I thought I needed to talk to a police officer (they have officers stationed at the dmv). She went to get the officer. He was outside with another customer and she said he would hurry to finish. So she worked on my paperwork and someone came over and told me to go to the conference room.
I went into another room and in strolls this tall, hunky, uniformed, cool-drink-o'-water officer. (let us pause for a moment and give thanks for things that make our girly parts tingle) I told him what I saw and heard in detail, telling him that if the guy was that brazen in public, what was that poor baby going thru in private? He said that while everyone has their own parenting/caregiving style, it sounded like a line was definitely crossed from my description. He was going to call in for backup because he was the only officer there, and asked me to write my name and number down and give it to the girl that was helping me. Hey, maybe I'll get a date out of this. Please please please please.
When I went back to the window, the girl was almost finished with my paperwork, and she said while I was gone she saw the man grab the baby by the bib and shove him back in the stroller (the stroller was in the reclining position and the baby was trying to sit up).
I wrote my name and number on a piece of paper and gave it to her, got my paperwork and left.
And the extension that was supposed to cost me $50 was free since I brought my letter from the state.
Sooooooooo... I admit that I was kicking myself earlier for not making an appointment. I admit that I was kicking myself for not investigating this state program sooner.
I admit that I am thankful that I did NONE of that. I admit that I am thankful that I ended up where I was today.
Cali
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