If ya can't say something productive or insightful......

posted 02:37 PM 05/15
Link this article here.

I seem to be in the mood to swing my bat these days. Today, I’m swingin’ again. I was reading a story recently at www.theolympian.com about the toddler who was injured by a riding lawn mower. The story gave me all the usual range of emotions, thoughts, and curiosity about how such a tragic thing can happen. Then I opened the comment thread and the first thing I see is a comment about how stupid and irresponsible the parents must be for not keeping an eye on this child. Wow! What an assumption to make.

I remembered as though it happened yesterday when my oldest daughter was about 7 years old and playing on the playground at a local baseball field while I sat and watched my then-husband play softball. She was with other kids, and not far out of my sight, but she was far enough to fall backward off of some apparatus or another and split the back of her head open. I never once felt I was negligent because I wasn’t right there when it happened — me thinks the fall would have occurred either way — but the guilt was there anyway.

I realize that scenario is a little different from a toddler getting injured by a riding lawn mower, but the guilt and stupidity parents feel when one of their children is hurt in a manner that might have been prevented is pretty much universal, no matter what the injury or circumstances.

My problem is with those who open a comment thread on stories such as these and feel high and mighty enough to make assumptions and judgments without knowing all the facts. Even if they did know all the facts, and even if the parents did show a lapse in judgment, I’m not sure what point there is in calling them names or otherwise bashing them on an open forum.

This brought to mind another tragic story recently that had a happy ending, but it sure made me think: An acquaintance of mine’s young child recently severely burned his hand on a wood stove. My first reaction was not to assume mom and dad weren’t watching the child, but I immediately pictured my own wood stove and my 10-month-old grandson, and I realized I hadn’t even considered the fact that he might head to that wood stove and burn himself. He doesn’t travel too quickly yet, and so far hasn’t shown an interest in the wood stove, but as we all know, kids at that age change and explore new worlds constantly. It opened my eyes, and I was grateful that I could actually learn a hard lesson about how kid-proof my house really is. Unfortunately, I learned this while a child suffered from that same lesson.

My point? Sometimes skipping the process of judging others and instead finding something to learn, or having your eyes opened to an unforeseen danger, is far more beneficial to others, as well as your own blood-pressure. Besides, it makes those who read your comment say, “Wow! What an intelligent comment,” rather than “Wow, what an a**!”

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