Lock Your Car, Don't Let Your Kids Play in the Car

Yesterday, on my way back from a neighbor's house, I spotted a child of about 8 years enter a car and slam the door behind him. The windows were tinted, but I saw that he was alone in the car, and kind of just exploring the seats and playing with the steering wheel.

I turned to the woman next to me, and basically said that if I didn't check it out I'd be worried that the nightly news would have some tragic story about a little boy who suffocated in a car on 6th Avenue.

So, I went back to the car and asked the boy if he was okay. Nods head. Can you open the door? Shakes head. (Smart, considering I am unknown to him.) I tried the door, and it was locked. He had keys in his hand. I stopped a man who had come out of the house next door to the car and asked him if he knew the car or the boy inside. He started talking to the boy by name and asked him to open up. Nope. So he knocked on a house and talked to the kids that came out, asking them to get their parent. I thanked him and left.

Hopefully, I did enough. It was Noon, and the windows were all closed tight. The stories about kids who are left in cars or fall asleep after playing in cars are too, too sad.

So, lock your car and don't let your kids play in it. (Apparently, hide your keys, too.)