Well, yesterday was a whirlwind of a day that I don't ever want to re-live. On my way home from a doctor's appointment, I called my grandma to check on Josie. She was sleeping, but I could hear this barking cough in the background. I decided to call the doctor because the cough sounded terrible. They wanted to see her at 4:20, so I cancelled my afternoon appointment and head to grandma's to pick her up. As I was walking to the car with her, she was playing with the car remote. She does this all of the time, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I buckled her in, tossed the keys to the front seat like I always do and shut the back door. The door didn't shut all of the way so I tried to open it to shut it again......my heart stopped......the doors were locked. Josie had hit the lock button while I had the back door open and locked all of the doors. I turned to grandma who was still standing on the porch and said "I just locked the baby in the car." She thought I was joking, but when I told her to call 911, she knew I was serious. Josie was fine at this point. She though it was pretty funny so I kept playing with her through the glass.
The police came within a few minutes, so I thought, great, they will get her out and we'll be on our way. They walked up to the car, looked in at her and said "There is nothing that we can do. You need to wait for our emergency response unit." WHAT? Did I hear that correctly? My 13 month old is in the car and you can't do anything? They didn't have the bendable bar to pop the lock. Only the emergency response unit had that. Ok, fine. I asked how long it would take the unit to arrive. Their response - "Um, we are not sure....could be 20 minutes or so." Seriously?
Josie was starting to get upset at this point. I was trying to remain calm for her sake. I asked the cop that was there at the time to break the window. He said he couldn't, but that I could, so he handed me his club. I swung as hard as I could and the club bounced off of the window. I am not sure why I or the cop thought that I could break the window with my 110 pound body. A neighbor came by and offered to use a metal hanger to pop the lock. God bless him....he tried and tried and could not succeed. I should mention that "Dumb" and "Dumber" (the initial 2 cops to respond) stood on the sidewalk the entire time, hands on their hips.
Josie is hysterical at this point...reaching for me and screaming. I am trying to calm her....I know that it's getting hot in the car.
FINALLY, the emergency response unit comes. No lights, no sense of urgency.....he takes his time getting out the car, retrieves the bendable bar from the back and strolls over to my car. A neighbor pries the glass open while "Officer Cocky" attempts to flip the lock. I can't remember which way you are supposed to push the lock to open it, and he gets an attitude because I am not in a clear state of mind. After a few seconds, he gets it unlocked.
I almost rip the car seat straps off of Josie. She is covered in sweat, snot and tears, but she's ok. At this point I lost my mind. There is no way to sugar coat the verbal abuse I laid onto the officers. I berated them for their lack of urgency and the fact that it took the emergency response unit over 20 minutes to get there (after he had to ask for directions). Apparently, not everyone can be trusted to carry these bendable bars in their cars. This is a privilege reserved for the emergency response units. Can you sense my sarcasm? I dropped quite a few F-bombs before my grandma reminded that me that we needed to cool the baby. For a moment I was sure that I was going to jail.
So, maybe they will offer a paramedic to check the baby for dehydration? Nope. Now I know that she wasn't in the car for hours and it wasn't extremely hot, but it would have been nice to have her looked at. Everyone leaves, after "Officer Cocky" tells me that "if it's a dire emergency next time, break the window ma'am". Thanks Captain Obvious.....and according to everyone else in the world, locking your baby in the car in the summertime is a dire emergency. Unbelievable.
Moral of the story is three-fold:
1. Keep my car keys in my hand at all times.
2. Never rely on the Baltimore City Police Department to "serve and protect".
3. Keep the number for Pop-A-Lock handy. They are guaranteed to be there in 10 minutes if there is a child in the car.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Oh my goodness! What a day, huh? Hope you and the little one are feeling calmer now. Was our little Josephine afraid to get back in the car seat after her ordeal? Poor little sweetie! I know it was more traumatic for you, though.
I know this because the excitement caused your memory of the details to be tainted. You see, my sweet niece would NEVER drop any "F"-bombs! Unless they were these statements:
** "F"aster, mister policeman.
** "F"ind a way to open the car door, please.
** "F"unny that it takes so very long for the emergency response team to respond, huh?
** "F"at chance I will ever give my keys to my 13-month old again.
** "F"ine blog material, though.
But seriously, glad you both are OK. That's enough excitement for the rest of the year!
2 words come to mind....HOLY SHIT! I would be beside myself in the same situation.
Chances are I would be making my 1 phone call to Sara.
Welcome to the blog world.
You are right, those cops stood around with their fingers up their rumps doing nothing. Maybe they would have reacted differently if it were their child in a car. But who knows with "Baltimore's Finest". Bottom line is that my Jose Pose is ok. Love Mom Mom
OMG. I think I would have reacted the same way...Glad to hear that everything is ok. That is just nuts.
P.S. Mike told us you caught the bug! Welcome... I'll add a link to your blog on mine!
The hardest thing for me was to see my little girl sitting in the car crying and reaching for me to get her out and I couldn't do it....I just wanted to bust through the window and save her.
I would have given anything to bust through that glass and save my monkey....
Josie - so glad you were okay...I am sorry that I couldn't save you that day. There will be many more times that I will be there for you and protect you.
Michael, your feeling of helplessness was almost unbearable because of your immense love for your little girl. It is a parent's nightmare to be in a situation like that, and at some point in our lives we (parents) have all felt that way -- wanting to do more, devastated because we couldn't.
Josie knows that she has a Mommy and Daddy that will be there for her ... she was NOT deserted that day. It is a fact that she is resilient and is OK. Mommy and Daddy need to remind themselves of that! Love you all.
Post a Comment