So, 'dul lost Eva last night
Jun. 30th, 2012 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyWell, misplaced her, anyway, for about 15 minutes. He got on the train, Ana got on the train, and somehow Evangeline was left at the station.
The station happens to hold a precinct, so within seconds she was picked up by the nearest transit cop. It was quite possibly the safest place for a child to be lost EVER. Whatever you think of the cops, few of them will blithely shove six year olds into the tracks for fun. (So will hardly anybody else, mind, but sometimes scared kids feel better around uniforms.)
When it comes to that, I'm kinda happy about this. Due to a laundry mix-up, Evangeline had gone out of the house with leggings and no panties, and 'dul usually cares quite a lot about that sort of thing, but since he's the one that LOST HER (and also Ana's inhaler, good going!) he can't really complain. Couldn't've arranged it better myself!
All this reminds me, though, for people visiting a large city who aren't used to being in large cities: When riding public transportation, if the adults get separated from the kids, the kids either a. stay put or b. exit the bus or train at the next stop and then proceed to step a. The grown-ups are the ones who circle back to meet them. If you're all adults, then generally the person who knows their way around is the one who circles back, but in your case you can coordinate with cell phones and whatnot if necessary.
This should be common sense, but if you're traveling with kids do yourself a favor and make sure to spell this out explicitly to them. Too often, kids think (before they're taught otherwise) that they're supposed to find YOU, or that they should wander around looking for a police officer. Unless the cops pick them up personally, as happened to Eva, the last thing you want your child doing is moving away from where you can easily find them. Best if they just stay put.
(If they ask why they stay put and you travel, the reason is that if you both look for each other you'll pass in the crowd and never realize it. You're probably taller and more knowledgeable, so it should be you doing the legwork.)
The station happens to hold a precinct, so within seconds she was picked up by the nearest transit cop. It was quite possibly the safest place for a child to be lost EVER. Whatever you think of the cops, few of them will blithely shove six year olds into the tracks for fun. (So will hardly anybody else, mind, but sometimes scared kids feel better around uniforms.)
When it comes to that, I'm kinda happy about this. Due to a laundry mix-up, Evangeline had gone out of the house with leggings and no panties, and 'dul usually cares quite a lot about that sort of thing, but since he's the one that LOST HER (and also Ana's inhaler, good going!) he can't really complain. Couldn't've arranged it better myself!
All this reminds me, though, for people visiting a large city who aren't used to being in large cities: When riding public transportation, if the adults get separated from the kids, the kids either a. stay put or b. exit the bus or train at the next stop and then proceed to step a. The grown-ups are the ones who circle back to meet them. If you're all adults, then generally the person who knows their way around is the one who circles back, but in your case you can coordinate with cell phones and whatnot if necessary.
This should be common sense, but if you're traveling with kids do yourself a favor and make sure to spell this out explicitly to them. Too often, kids think (before they're taught otherwise) that they're supposed to find YOU, or that they should wander around looking for a police officer. Unless the cops pick them up personally, as happened to Eva, the last thing you want your child doing is moving away from where you can easily find them. Best if they just stay put.
(If they ask why they stay put and you travel, the reason is that if you both look for each other you'll pass in the crowd and never realize it. You're probably taller and more knowledgeable, so it should be you doing the legwork.)
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 03:54 pm (UTC)We were in the restaurant at IKEA, and Stella had gone off "for 5 minutes" to find something or other. After quite a while had gone by, Amy suggested we look for her, and I said she would be looking for us and we'd probably pass each other and neither would find the other. And I mentioned that if she got lost, she should probably stay put.
But a more explicit mention of strategy might be appropriate for some point.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 07:26 pm (UTC)In Eva's case, of course, there was no "finding". They knew where she was, it just wasn't with them!
no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 08:51 pm (UTC)Very good point about spelling out the search-protocols explicitly to the kids! Important also that kids have their grown-ups' cell phone numbers on them, because even if they don't have cell phones themselves, all the cops, security guards and customer-service people will have them. Some people at the larger events go so far as to write their cell phone number on their kid's arm with a waterproof marker so they absolutely can't lose it.
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Date: 2012-07-02 10:00 pm (UTC)Still, strangers don't generally snatch kids at ANY time of day from the trains. Getting lost is a LOT more likely than getting abducted.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 10:49 pm (UTC)I would think it would be damned difficult to snatch a school-age kid from the trains at any time, because they'd be so visible and audible the whole time, and where is there to even take them, that isn't in sight and earshot of every passer-by? As long as the child's old enough to stay back from the rails, and to not agree to go anywhere with a stranger, they ought to be relatively safe.
Not that 'relatively' would mean anything with one's wee girlie lost somewhere under the streets of New York an hour before midnight, sheesh! *hugs*
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Date: 2012-07-02 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-03 01:58 am (UTC)