It takes a village

I ate lunch yesterday in a local cemetery (hey, it's quiet, shady, and has a view--plus I don't get out of the car or leave garbage or anything). I was driving back to work afterwards down a pretty busy secondary street when I saw something, about two blocks ahead. It looked like a toddler crossing the street.

I squinted, sure it couldn't have actually been a toddler crossing the street, or if it was, surely its parent was within two or three steps. There weren't any other cars going in the direction I was, but a big SUV slowed down to let the little boy (as it turned out) pass, as did two cars that were coming behind him.

I couldn't believe my eyes. No parent anywhere in sight. The other cars passed by and I pulled to the side of the street, still looking for someone who was watching this kid. By the time I got out of the car, the toddler was in an open garage across the street, touching the tailpipe of a motorcycle that was parked there. Thank god, no one had ridden it recently, so the pipes weren't hot.

I kept looking around and walked towards the little boy. He looked like he was between 18 months and two years old--not talking yet, as it turned out. I said Hi to him, then asked if this was his house. He tried to climb onto the seat of the motorcycle. I asked if we could go to his mommy, and he made a noise and pointed to the red tailight on the bike and a red shovel that was leaning against the wall.

I asked again if we could go to his mommy, holding out my hand, but he turned away to keep trying to climb on the bike. I figured if I tried to pick him up, he'd probably scream. So I went back across the street to the nearest house and rang the doorbell. Probably four minutes or so had passed.

I kept an eye on the boy until a man came to the door. I said, do you have a child? He said yes. I said, he's across the street! He said, I didn't even know he was out, as he started barefoot down the steps. I said, he's not in the house, he's in the garage. He headed into the garage and I watched to be sure that the little boy would go with him.

He picked him up and started back across the street towards the house, and I got back in my car and went back to work. There were cars parked on the sides of the street, and if the boy had stepped out from behind one of them into traffic, he could have been killed.

My good deed for the day!