I asked him, "Where is your mommy?"
Shrug.
"Is she watching you from the window?"
Shrug.
"Are you waiting for your bus?"
Shrug.
Hmmm. Should I just walk on? I couldn't leave him standing there by himself, so I waited. A school bus came along and a mother put her child on the bus. I wondered whether this was also the bus for the child standing alone. A man came along who seemed to know the boy and put him on the bus.
I said, "WHERE IS HIS MOTHER? Haven't we learned anything from this summer? How could she leave him standing here alone?"
He said, "You're right ..."
End of story.
My strategy for the next time I pass that corner at that time is: 1) if the child is with his mother, I ask her where she was on Monday 2) if he is alone again, I call the Jewish auxiliary police patrol.
Even without the tragedy of this past summer, it is not acceptable to send a three year old to stand by himself in front of his house and certainly when it's not in front of his house! Parents beware!
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Unfortunately there are still mothers who park their babies in carriages outside of stores and shop without a care in the world. I was in such a store recently and the store owner admonished a mother for leaving the baby outside. The mother ignored her and continued to shop. I don't know if local Shomrim groups deal with child neglect and endangerment but basically they would have to threaten to report the mother to the authorities if she felt that she was in her right to leave her baby on the street.
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