Reply #50: I saw something like that in Portland about ten years ago

[Lydia Leftcoast]

I was waiting in a bus shelter on the Transit Mall, and along came a thuggish-looking family with two little girls. The younger one was about four and was clearly at what even I, a non-parent, recognize as the Tired Meltdown Stage. She was dragging her feet and whining, and a sensible parent would have picked her up and carried her and gone home as soon as possible.

As the family progressed along the sidewalk, the little girl plopped down and started wailing. Immediately her father slapped her across the face and screamed at her, "Get your fuckin' ass off the sidewalk, you little cunt!"

Of course, she began to scream louder, and her father kept cussing her out. Her mother just stood there, actually carrying the older girl, who was really too big to be carried.

The father ended up dragging her by one arm down the sidewalk. The mother walked along, still carrying the older girl.

To this day, I regret not doing anything, and I've vowed that if I ever witness such a scene again, I will do something.

I was working with street kids at the time, and that scene gave me some insight into where street kids come from.