I parked in the grocery store parking lot and there were two kids in the car next to me with no adult. Two girls about 8 and 5 I would guess. It was about 28 degrees Celsius or 90 Fahrenheit, not too humid and breezy. The windows were rolled down and they smiled at me and looked to be content.
I was going to go over and speak with them but.... I am an adult male and speaking with little girls is not something that I generally do as I have had negative reactions when I have done it before.
In hindsight I think perhaps I should have called 911. I don't think they were in immediate danger due to overheating but it was also certainly possible that someone could wander by and abduct them.
So did I screw up or what?
You did the right thing. If the kids seemed over-heated or like they'd been there a while, then maybe. I might have stayed for 10 minutes to see if the parents emerged. People are WAY too quick to call the cops. We are way to overly protective of kids.
Totally agree with parents being over protective nowadays. Us kids used to disappear all day and only came home for food and my parents couldn't have cared less. I remember going over a jump on my bike and wiping out onto a broken whiskey bottle. Huge cut on my thigh about three inches long and an inch deep. Rode home and showed my Mom and all she said was "Well it must be summer now if I am taking one of you in for stitches. Get a towel on it and get in the car." edit: I just remembered that I rode all the way home and just before I got there my neighbor Anne asked me what I was doing and I said I was going to go get stitches and showed her the cut. Big tough guy. And then as soon as I saw my mom a minute later I started bawling. Big tough guy.
I can empathize with your hesitancy, especially if you've had negative experiences before. Honestly, I probably would have just gone into the grocery store too. If they were still there when I came out, however, I (hopefully!) would have taken a course of action, whether that's calling 911 or speaking with the kids. Societal pressures be damned, 28 degrees is damn hot here in the north, and children are especially susceptible. It is terrible that men can be labelled as "creepy" in society without context of the conversation. I've never experienced this, so hopefully someone else can weigh in.
They were gone when I came out about 20 minutes later.
I wouldn't call this a fuck-up, then. Nobody was actually hurt, and now you can reflect on the situation in case it happens again. Your concern is admirable. Too often, people are quick to say it is none of their business and move on without a second thought.
I think you did fine. For all you know, they could have been there less than five minutes as a parent went in to grab a jug of milk, and reporting it would have lead to needless embarrassment for the parents, a less than ideal situation for the kids, and a waste of an officer's time. The abduction idea is pretty far fetched, kidnappings are practically never opportunistic crimes. Personally, I think it was good you decided not to talk to them, because I was a kid not too long ago, and if some random person came up to me while I was in the car by myself, that would have freaked me out. It's a sad world, but trust is hard to come by.
Bags of milk my friend. This is Canada and we do not have jugs of milk. :)
Why do you think you should have called, for me, it just looks like two girls happily waiting for someone who's doing the groceries.
Heatstroke kills kids and pets left in cars, even on moderately warm days because cars act as hothouses. The kids were probably fine given their ages and the windows, but cops generally prefer to scare some sense in to parents and pet owners before complacency sets in.
Maybe. maybe not. But the fact that you worried and realized that you would be percieved as a threatshows that you have empathy.