Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Did I Do the Right Thing?

This is topic Did I Do the Right Thing? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 10-06-2004, 11:43 PM:

Wednesday evening I was in a restaurant restroom when a 5 or 6 year old came out of a stall and said he had to go real bad but couldn't get his pants unfastened and asked me to unfasten them for him. As much as I would have liked to help the little guy I said no and told him to get help from his Mom or Dad. I could see somebody coming in with me taking his pants down, and the resulting child molestation charges, trial and prison. My wife agrees that I made the correct decision. Any thoughts??

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 10-06-2004, 11:49 PM:

HELL YES you did...with the legal world as it is today, good decision. Also, I wouldn't help anyways...his parents need to do that stuff...

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-06-2004, 11:50 PM:

You made the right decision.

Sure, it would be embarrasing for some six year old kid to piss his pants. But then it is really no big deal at all for a kid that age to do that. It is by far the lesser of evils compared to what could have happened if you had helped him with the situation.

The thing that makes me wonder is what kind of crack this boy's parents are smoking that they would let a kid that young go into a restaurant restroom all by himself. That's really where I would be wanting the hammer to fall down.

Lazy ass parents. They're all quick to point out someone who could be a child molester or bad influence. But then their happy asses will plant the child in front of a Playstation2 for hours on end while they screw their lover and think about how they can ruin the live of the other estranged parent. Assholes.

Posted by Greg Davis (Member # 2687) on 10-07-2004, 12:23 AM:

IDIOT! you blew your chance man! how many times will that happen?!?

Just be glad that the poor kid didn't skip that step for you and ask to hold his weenie for him. Yes or no that one is an awkward situation to walk into.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 10-07-2004, 01:09 AM:

Ya done good Bill! [thumbsup]

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 10-07-2004, 03:22 AM:

That's about the best that could be done there!

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-07-2004, 07:54 AM:

Lets face it...his parents need to "grow up" and help their child.

Steve

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-07-2004, 12:10 PM:

I agree with the rest.

However, you could have asked the kid his name and ducked out the door to see if "Johnny's" Mom or Dad were within range.

Totally a judgement/preference call on your part, though. You have no responsibility to take care of somebody else's kid.

This is the price people pay for being so danged "P.C." that they won't let an average citizen do a good deed for their kids for fear of being accused of molesting their kids. If they won't let people help, they'll have to clean up the pee-pee!

Back in my day, if somebody messed with us kids, my Dad would have shoved a shotgun so far up his rectum that guy would be shitting lead for a week! I'm not foolin'! I once witnessed my Dad rack a shell into the chamber and look a guy right, square in the eye and say just that!

When I was that age, if I had a problem like that, I wouldn't have hesitated to ask for help from a stranger because if there was a "problem" I knew that all I had to say was, "DAD! Somebody's touching me!!"

Those days are long over... [Frown]

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 10-07-2004, 10:03 PM:

That would be a tough situation indeed because my first instinct would be to help the little dude out. I personally couldn't give two shits what the parents say to me for trying to help. But the reason that would cause me to hesitate would be to teach the KID not to solicit such assistance from total strangers.

I feel bad for him. Maybe he's afraid to ask his parents because they might hit him or something. Who knows. But a bad stranger might do a lot worse to him too, so it's probably not in his best interest to do that.

It's hard to say what I would have done without being in that situation. I will say that doing what you did for the reasons stated above seems to make sense to me, I'm just not sure I would have done the same thing. And if I did, it would have been for different reasons.

I don't know if that answers the question or not! [Smile]

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 10-07-2004, 11:55 PM:

quote:
Back in my day, if somebody messed with us kids, my Dad would have shoved a shotgun so far up his rectum that guy would be shitting lead for a week! I'm not foolin'! I once witnessed my Dad rack a shell into the chamber and look a guy right, square in the eye and say just that!

In this day and age, your dad would be spending a lot of time in courts for pulling a gun on someone like that.

Posted by Matthew Nock (Member # 1575) on 10-08-2004, 07:07 AM:

Bill,

I would say that you did the right thing, and I would have probably done the same - however I would have felt bad for the poor kid.

But in this day and age, its far too risky to help out with something as simple as this.

All you need is for some paranoid person to walk in, while you are kneeling to assist the poor kid, and Whamo!

The parents should not be allowing their 6 year old kid to go to the toilet by himself anyways... And I totally agree that if the kid did make a mess, then its would be the parents at fault, not the kid.

Society is totally screwed up now!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 10-08-2004, 11:12 PM:

quote: Wolff King Morrow

In this day and age, your dad would be spending a lot of time in courts for pulling a gun on someone like that.

Probably so.

The person in question was a well-known trouble maker. Among other things, he was suspected in several incidents of the type of which we speak. Yet, somehow, he always seemed to get off on technicalities.

At the time, my Dad owned a bar. This guy had been banned from the place. The "incident" took place during an exchange when he was trying to come back in. It was appropriate for the time and place where it happened.

Then, again, I know of few people who, at 8 years old, have seen their father in a real live "knock-down, drag-out" bar fight... with chairs flying and beer bottles smashing over guys' heads... against two other guys... and winning!

Times were different, then.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 10-09-2004, 11:40 AM:

Yeah, I would have called for his parents too. that would be the best compromise. Yeah too much is sexualized right now. I remember a few years ago, if a buddy and I went to the cinemas, we would have the one seat buffer zone. BUt if three of us went, we would sit next to each other.

Now, i don't really care about that buffer zone. Whatever is convenient.