Last Monday, Chris worked from home. In the afternoon, he took Kaitlyn to a nearby park to play. This park has two play structures, a newer one near the front and an older one near the back, and a bathroom building. When Kaitlyn needed to go potty, they were at the front playground, so he put her in the car and drove her to the back of the park to go to the bathroom.
Chris has a policy of never taking Kaitlyn into a men’s bathroom, because they are always filthy. He doesn’t even like the boys going into them. So, Chris took Kaitlyn into the women’s bathroom just long enough to help her up onto the potty, then he stood outside the building waiting for her to finish. When she called to him that she was done, he went back in to help her wash her hands, then they got back in the car and drove back to the front of the park.
Kaitlyn ran off to play and Chris started chatting with another Dad that was there with his daughter, and as they were sitting there, a police car pulled up. The officer got out and walked right up to Chris. “Sir”, he said, “is that little girl over there your daughter?”, pointing to Kaitlyn. “Yes”, Chris said.
Someone had CALLED THE POLICE to report a suspicious man coming out of the women’s bathroom with a little girl and putting her into a car. A happy, skipping, smiling little girl who was then driven BACK TO THE PLAYGROUND to continue playing after using the potty. The person who called the police apparently forgot to KEEP WATCHING the SUSPICIOUS MAN to see what he did with the little girl after putting her in the car.
Not only that, but all the cop did is ASK Chris if he was Kaitlyn’s father. Wouldn’t a kidnapper or molester or whatever just say oh yeah sure, I’m her Dad? The cop didn’t ask Kaitlyn to point to her Dad or anything. How did he know Chris was who he said he was? I guess I’m glad the police took the call seriously in case something suspicious was going on, but it still bugs me.
I’m not faulting the police, what makes me angry about all of this is that I live in a society where a man with a little girl can be so easily pegged as suspicious. Dads take their daughters out places, and those daughters have to go potty, what is the Dad supposed to do?
I took my boys to lots of parks when they were little, and took them in and out of bathrooms, and no one ever called the police on me. And yet a woman could just as easily be a kidnapper or molester. I’m angry FOR my husband, that he would have to explain himself while enjoying an afternoon at a park with his daughter. I’m angry that someone glanced at Chris standing outside that bathroom, or coming out of it with Kaitlyn, and thought OMG I NEED TO CALL THE POLICE.
Has anything like this ever happened to your husband or significant other? Would you have called the police if you’d seen a man come out of a woman’s bathroom with a young girl, if the situation was the same as I described? I’d really like to know what you think about this.
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