Anyone see the picture of Brittney Spears...

[cepmom]

I still fail to see how "fight or flight" applies here. I have no doubt that being hounded by the paprazzi is unnerving, but they are not there to attack her physically...they are there to take her picture. Again, I have no experience with that, so I do not know exactly what that feels like, but I doubt there is a rational fear of being physically harmed, like Caradana's fear of the homeless man coming at her last night.

 

[Nancy]

Without having all the facts and giving Britney the benefit of the doubt, here's how I see it. Let's say you're in a parking lot getting in your car with your child when a strange man approaches you. Would you not just get in and take off? I don't think you would take the time to buckle him in the car seat. I assumming that she just took off out of fear for her child and pulled over a block or two away to buckle him in. Was it the best thing to do? Probably not, but she was scared apparently. It's not like she was cruising down the highway. I'm willing to cut her some slack on this one.

Me too, until I am in that situation I have no clue how I would react. I'll cut her some slack too. People are human, even celebrities, and sometimes humans make mistakes.

 

[Blondie]

I heard she was pregnant again? True or not?

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I don't get the fear aspect people are talking about. Sure, if a whacko with a knife was coming towards you, hightail it out of there. But we are talking about paparazzi here, not someone that is going to cause her or her baby physical harm. She has made her life a career out of doing things that make paparazzi follow her. Practically everything she does is over the top and for the public eye. Having a bunch of photographers around her car shouldn't cause her to fear for her or her son's safety to the point that she then sacrifices his safety by driving with him on her lap. One quick stop and he would have been a projectile out the front windshield. Put the child in the car seat and leave. If the photographers get out of hand or threatening, call the police.

If you are craving a Starbucks fix that much, leave the baby with a Nanny if you are so worried about the paparazzi - or let the bodyguard drive so you can sit in the back with your son.

 

[MosMom]

I guess I don't understand why she didn't at least hand him to the bodyguard so she could drive. In the picture, it looks like he is just sitting in her lap facing forward and she doesn't look terribly distressed. If she needed to leave in a hurry, hand him to the bodyguard and the bodyguard can put him in his seat while you leave.

No reason to tear away just because a bunch of people are taking your picture. Paparazzi is nothing new to her. I could MAYBE understand if she was a private person and didn't want her son's picture out in the public but she has been in People a couple times with him for photo spreads.

I don't know, I don't even dislike Britney Spears but I think her judgement seriously lacks here. Paparazzi isn't even close to a strange man approaching me alone with my kids. First of all, they aren't there to rape, rob, or murder you and she had her bodyguard with her.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I still fail to see how "fight or flight" applies here. I have no doubt that being hounded by the paprazzi is unnerving, but they are not there to attack her physically...they are there to take her picture. Again, I have no experience with that, so I do not know exactly what that feels like, but I doubt there is a rational fear of being physically harmed, like Caradana's fear of the homeless man coming at her last night.

Fear does not have to be rational.

Note--I didn't give her accolades and even said what she did was stupid. I just don't feel that her celebrity status had anything to do with it and don't doubt for one minute that she was trying to protect her child in that moment even if she wasn't doing so properly.

Take a look at some of the morons in my town who don't have their infants or toddlers properly restrained.

The stories of giving the baby a bottle while holding them b/c they were hungry.

Those are irresponsible parents.

Trying to escape a perceived threat--no matter how rational. Doesn't make one irresponsible. It was a moment where she just didn't think clearly.

Could it have deadly consequences. Absolutely. Was it stupid. Absolutely. Is she a horrible person for it--no. She made a mistake that ANY parent could and has doen regardless of status. It is only irresponsible if it happens again and again.

 

[MoniqueU]

There are the pics.

 

[scanne]

I am speechless and I feel very sorry for that little baby. Stupid mommy!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Maybe the bodyguard could have gotten off his cell phone and been putting the baby in the car seat while she was driving. Still.. doesn't look like she was too stressed to me. If she's stressed about paparazzi swarming her, why would her windows be open? First thing you think anyone would do is secure the car.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Maybe the bodyguard could have gotten off his cell phone and been putting the baby in the car seat while she was driving. Still.. doesn't look like she was too stressed to me. If she's stressed about paparazzi swarming her, why would her windows be open? First thing you think anyone would do is secure the car.

AGREED

(said that in my OP on this thread--roll up windows, lock the car, secure baby, then skedaddle)

 

[gr8ful4Him]

I was upset when I saw the picture this morning. I don't know all of the facts of the situation. I did see that she had the baby in her lap while she was driving. Obviously, there was another person in the vehicle that could have been strapping the baby in the car seat while she was driving...
The thing that distresses me the most about this is that some people will see the picture and find absolutely NOTHING wrong with it. Not because they feel that she was in danger and was fleeing the scene, but because they themselves have had their young child on their lap in the front seat
I've seen it different places and every time, I am saddened and outraged at the same time.

 

[MrsKreamer]

Once her bodyguard climbed back into the car, Spears drove away while still holding her son.

If she was so afraid and had to take off right away, why did she wait for her bodygaurd? I can understand waiting for the bodyguard to come back and then have him deal with the situation, but if it was so flight or fight, why wait for your coffee?

She is a new mom, and unfortunatly she is a new mom with cameras that follow her. This won't be the last time she gets caught doing something stupid.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I can't tell for sure but it looks like she didn't even have a seat belt on.

 

[Princess Dot]

Geez, people are being so harsh.

If she was being swarmed by a throng of photographers all yelling and pushing, even if she was in the car, I do think it was reasonable for her to be scared and mad too. Just because she has spent a lot of time in front of the cameras does not mean she wouldn't be frightened in this situation.

I don't see the big deal here. If you listen to parents from the 1960s, all the kids rode in the front seat, there were no car seats, seatbelts were rarely used. kids sat on you lap, kids laid down across the seats, etc. and most of us are alive to tell the tales! That does not mean of course that I am not a firm believer in car seats and boosters and we use them religiously in our cars. I don't even let my 11 year old ride in the front seat yet. But it is not that big a deal. I think people are being too judgemental.

I too see it all the time where kids are not wearing seatbelts, babies are riding on laps, and my all time personal pet peeve, kids riding in the back of station wagons 2 inches away from the rear bumper! I guess I am just saying that I'm sure this is not the way she usually drives around, but unfortunately it was caught on camera. I'll bet none of us would stand up to strict scrutiny in our parenting skills if we were constantly being followed by cameras either.

 

[cepmom]

Fear does not have to be rational.

QUOTE]

I guess rational wasn't the right word...I guess I meant a "real" fear.

Yes, people do make mistakes. Everyone does. I am not in disagreement with that. I guess I just feel that her "perceived threat" was stupid on her part. The whole paparazzi thing is not new to her.

And people around town that consistantly put their children at risk should be reported to the police (which I know that you said you have done...bravo to you. Those people make want to ring their necks)

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe the bodyguard could have gotten off his cell phone and been putting the baby in the car seat while she was driving. Still.. doesn't look like she was too stressed to me. If she's stressed about paparazzi swarming her, why would her windows be open? First thing you think anyone would do is secure the car.

It looks like her windows are closed in the last picture. I see a reflection in every window area.

 

[MosMom]

The more I look at the series of pictures, it looks like a photographer in a car was coming towards her and snapped her picture...then took more pictures as he/she passed. I wonder why there aren't more pictures from all these paparazzi that were hounding her?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It looks like her windows are closed in the picture. I see a reflection in every window area.

First 2 pics the window is down and the last pic it is up.

Feasibily--the first 2 pics could be taken in a parking lot. Can't really tell.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Geez, people are being so harsh.

If she was being swarmed by a throng of photographers all yelling and pushing, even if she was in the car, I do think it was reasonable for her to be scared and mad too. Just because she has spent a lot of time in front of the cameras does not mean she wouldn't be frightened in this situation.

I don't see the big deal here. If you listen to parents from the 1960s, all the kids rode in the front seat, there were no car seats, seatbelts were rarely used. kids sat on you lap, kids laid down across the seats, etc. and most of us are alive to tell the tales! That does not mean of course that I am not a firm believer in car seats and boosters and we use them religiously in our cars. I don't even let my 11 year old ride in the front seat yet. But it is not that big a deal. I think people are being too judgemental.

People did a lot of things in the 60's that we found out could cause harm or even death to children (or to adults for that matter). Doesn't make it okay that someone does that now. Besides, it is the LAW that infants must be secured in the proper child restraint in a moving car.

There are a lot of us that lived in houses with lead paint and we have lived to tell the tale. So if she decides to redo the nursery in a lovely shade of lavender leaded paint we should say that plenty of people lived through the 60's with no ill effects?

And as I said before, if in fact the photographers were that big of an issue, why in all that is sane would she have the drivers window rolled down? That doesn't seem to fit in with someone that is worried about people swarming around her.

 

[MrsKreamer]

Geez, people are being so harsh.

If she was being swarmed by a throng of photographers all yelling and pushing, even if she was in the car, I do think it was reasonable for her to be scared and mad too. Just because she has spent a lot of time in front of the cameras does not mean she wouldn't be frightened in this situation.

I don't see the big deal here. If you listen to parents from the 1960s, all the kids rode in the front seat, there were no car seats, seatbelts were rarely used. kids sat on you lap, kids laid down across the seats, etc. and most of us are alive to tell the tales! That does not mean of course that I am not a firm believer in car seats and boosters and we use them religiously in our cars. I don't even let my 11 year old ride in the front seat yet. But it is not that big a deal. I think people are being too judgemental.

CArs in the 1960s didn't have airbags that could knock little Prestons head of either