Knewsing 3: Slap the Kid

Today’s story comes from the Atlanta Journal Constitution: Man Slaps Stranger’s Crying Kid. By Kate Leslie

So, imagine, you’re in a supermarket, or a department store, or (worst of all) an airplane and the kid behind you won’t stop crying. Crying and crying and there’s nothing the mother/father can do (or sometimes even try to do) to stop it. You have options. You can ignore it, as most people would. You can roll your eyes and curse the kid and mother under your breath. You could turn around and give the kid and/or mother that dirty look you’ve been perfecting, just for the occasion. And, if you’re on an airplane, you can even ask the flight attendant to see if she can get you some earplugs (unless you’re the type that carries those around due to trauma left by a super-snorer boyfriend – then you’re all set. That also applies to the anti-social, airplane reader who is always prepared to shut the world out).

Or, if you live in Gwinnett County, you could do as one 61-year-old man did in a local Stone Mountain Wal-Mart. Turn around and smack the kid. You’ll be arrested, of course. And, in this man’s case, held without bond and charged with a felony: cruelty to children. And herein lay the difference between the people who do, not think.