Wished I Could Have Done Something

[lorenni]

he wasn't I saw him later he was with other people drinking

Right - but who's to say he wasn't just a concerned person like you? My husband would absolutely stand by in this type of situation just as I (and you) would.

 

[kamik86]

Assumptions of yours with this man make me worried with my husband sometimes. My husband absolutely would have done the same. Add to it that my husband has the "scary man look" (mostly due to his odd uneven beard... because he hates to shave and has a scar that makes the beard come in weird)

From what you have said here the man didn't do anything you didn't do as well. You were standing around watching the child and looking around to see who else was around. You left after mom showed up. You may not have moved as quickly but as others said maybe he had a fast pass or ADR but wasn't willing to leave the child until he was sure she was safe. Then since she was safe he wanted to hurry to make his appointment.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Assumptions of yours with this man make me worried with my husband sometimes. My husband absolutely would have done the same. Add to it that my husband has the "scary man look" (mostly due to his odd uneven beard... because he hates to shave and has a scar that makes the beard come in weird) From what you have said here the man didn't do anything you didn't do as well. You were standing around watching the child and looking around to see who else was around. You left after mom showed up. You may not have moved as quickly but as others said maybe he had a fast pass or ADR but wasn't willing to leave the child until he was sure she was safe. Then since she was safe he wanted to hurry to make his appointment.

here's the thing I was watching with another family to make sure the girl was safe. I wasn't following her. The man was alone (later with people). His odd behavior was that he was using his body to separate her from the main area where the people were. His body was to the back of the flow of traffic and he was inching her away. He wasn't scary looking his behavior was very odd and I don't care if it was a man woman or a purple people eater. What he was doing was odd . If he was trying to be helpful he sure was making a poor choice on his behavior. An once again if some person is acting strangely towards a child I am not going to think if a million ways why that person is acting that way. I always error on the side of caution of a child. You can always apologize to the adult you offended. You can't apologize to a child that was hurt.

 

[aaarcher86]

here's the thing I was watching with another family to make sure the girl was safe. I wasn't following her. The man was alone (later with people). His odd behavior was that he was using his body to separate her from the main area where the people were. His body was to the back of the flow of traffic and he was inching her away. He wasn't scary looking his behavior was very odd and I don't care if it was a man woman or a purple people eater. What he was doing was odd . If he was trying to be helpful he sure was making a poor choice on his behavior. An once again if some person is acting strangely towards a child I am not going to think if a million ways why that person is acting that way. I always error on the side of caution of a child. You can always apologize to the adult you offended. You can't apologize to a child that was hurt.

So he was corralling her away from the main area full of people? Unless he was ushering her into a corner and twirling his mustache I really don't see how it's something to judge. He obviously wasn't out prowling for children if he was hanging with his friends later.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

So he was corralling her away from the main area full of people? Unless he was ushering her into a corner and twirling his mustache I really don't see how it's something to judge. He obviously wasn't out prowling for children if he was hanging with his friends later.

I'm sure there were a thousand reasons he was corralling her away . I'm sure it was all innocent. But seriously, if all of you saw a child alone and a man that wasn't with her steering her away from people would every last one of you assume he was helping and walk away? I wasn't about to take that chance. If that makes me a bad person I really don't care. If mom wasn't discovered as soon as she was I would have gone to security .

 

[aaarcher86]

I'm sure there were a thousand reasons he was corralling her away . I'm sure it was all innocent. But seriously, if all of you saw a child alone and a man that wasn't with her steering her away from people would every last one of you assume he was helping and walk away? I wasn't about to take that chance. If that makes me a bad person I really don't care. If mom wasn't discovered as soon as she was I would have gone to security .

No. I would have stuck around to watch the kid, but I wouldn't have made a snap judgement about a stranger. It's possible to do both.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

No. I would have stuck around to watch the kid, but I wouldn't have made a snap judgement about a stranger. It's possible to do both.

I'm sure if anyone here actually witnessed the whole situation their opinions would be different . Based on the mans original actions I assumed, along with the other family, that this was the girls grandfather. I was walking on based on this. The girl continued to cry and cause attention to herself. It was when the mans behavior changed that sent up a red flag not to leave. It was his behavior that did that not me.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

People! Put your pitchforks down please. Or I guess if you really have nothing better to do....by all means...continue on beating the dead horse.

 

[Lavitz]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

I do this every time, and I have never once thought other might see it that way. And quite frankly I don't care, I'm making sure that kid finds their parent or I inform security if I have to go.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I do this every time, and I have never once thought other might see it that way. And quite frankly I don't care, I'm making sure that kid finds their parent or I inform security if I have to go.

exactly !!! If I possibly help 1 child it would be worth offending thousands.

 

[ORMom2Four]

I don't know where to post this but I just have to get this off my chest. Yesterday I witnessed 2 horrible examples of what not to do when taking children to theme parks and I'm not sure which is worse. At HS we were in line for rnrc. I child that was tall enough (maybe 9) was hysterical and not wanting to ride. He was begging his mom pleading and pulling in her shirt . When our car arrived he went through it to the other side when a cast member shooed him back in. This is when mom pulled him in and down and locked the harness. After he was hysterical. There were. 5 adults with that party. Everyone was teasing him. Broke my heart. I wished the cast members could refuse to let people ride.
The second was later in the evening at epcot. I saw a girl, maybe 2, all alone pulling on an umbrella stroller screaming for her mom obviously lost. I stopped and looked out for mom and a cast member. Another family stopped with me. That poor girl was screaming for her mom. A few minutes later mom popped out from behind a trash can. She was recording the whole incident on her phone. She told her older child it's going on youtube .

They absolutely will tell a parent and child to leave a ride if the child will not calm down. You just ran into cast members who did not do their job.

We have a disabled son who is afraid of rides before they start moving. He cries and cries before we move, but 10 seconds after movement, he is laughing and enjoying the ride.

We have been removed from many rides because of his crying. "We can't let him ride unless he stops crying." is normally what they tell me.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

I don't know where to post this but I just have to get this off my chest. Yesterday I witnessed 2 horrible examples of what not to do when taking children to theme parks and I'm not sure which is worse. At HS we were in line for rnrc. I child that was tall enough (maybe 9) was hysterical and not wanting to ride. He was begging his mom pleading and pulling in her shirt . When our car arrived he went through it to the other side when a cast member shooed him back in. This is when mom pulled him in and down and locked the harness. After he was hysterical. There were. 5 adults with that party. Everyone was teasing him. Broke my heart. I wished the cast members could refuse to let people ride.
The second was later in the evening at epcot. I saw a girl, maybe 2, all alone pulling on an umbrella stroller screaming for her mom obviously lost. I stopped and looked out for mom and a cast member. Another family stopped with me. That poor girl was screaming for her mom. A few minutes later mom popped out from behind a trash can. She was recording the whole incident on her phone. She told her older child it's going on youtube .

What was the kids' reaction after RnRC? I only ask because maybe its bad parenting in your eyes, but my son when a lot younger didn't want to go on Maelstrom. I KNEW as his mother that he would LOVE it but he was a scared nelly and since it was new to him, he was refusing. I made him go kicking and screaming and within minutes, he LOVED it and never gave us a hard time again! Maelstrom is not RnRC and I don't think I would make my kids go on a ride with height or loops, but Maelstrom I did so judge away lol!

As for the 2 year old and pretending the parents are lost. Now that is just awful. Poor kiddo

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

What was the kids' reaction after RnRC? I only ask because maybe its bad parenting in your eyes, but my son when a lot younger didn't want to go on Maelstrom. I KNEW as his mother that he would LOVE it but he was a scared nelly and since it was new to him, he was refusing. I made him go kicking and screaming and within minutes, he LOVED it and never gave us a hard time again! Maelstrom is not RnRC and I don't think I would make my kids go on a ride with height or loops, but Maelstrom I did so judge away lol! As for the 2 year old and pretending the parents are lost. Now that is just awful. Poor kiddo

he was punching his mom is the arm still screaming and hysterical. The rest of the party was laughing and making fun of him calling him a baby. I looked on my ride photos and there is one without my family in it only his. It breaks my heart to look at it.

 

[I M Fearless]

I think the problem is, that nobody can ever be sure what another person's motivations are for behaving in a particular way in any given situation.

Many times, at WDW, and in life in general I have seen a small snap-shot of a situation unfolding and it is always very difficult to know whether to jump in and become involved or to not intervene but to observe.

I don't always think there is a right answer, because you can find yourself with a split second to make an instant decision on a situation which you only know so much about.

Generally, I ask myself what I would regret more?: the possible consequences of intervening in the situation or the possible consequences of not intervening

That being said, the question is much easier to answer with the benefit of hindsight, which none of us have in the heat of the moment.

Do what you think you can live with easiest people!

 

[kandb]

How sad. Two digusting parents who should of never been parents. Whatever happened to loving and protecting your children. Very sad for the poor children who have bad parents.

 

[hsmamato2]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

This is what I picked up on also.... OP, I know your heart was in the right place by noticing and wishing you could have helped those poor kids, but you kind of decided that a guy who was also watching/involved/probably a concerned parent also, was a pedophile who wanted to steal the kid..... It is harsh that a man attempting to help a screaming lost child is instantly viewed as evil- here's a big question .....(no one can really answer it here and now but..) if this kid was really screaming and lost, and this man was the ONLY person moving to try and help her,probably wanted to ask her name, calm her down,etc. Then why assume that he is a pedophile? If you,and no one else was moving to do anything, why is he a creep for caring? My DH would want to help,and he might even be seen drinking a beer later in the day too!
Now I know statistics,etc. and I know I would have stopped in my tracks and approached a child of that age alone to help, but I would also assume that another person stopping to help was as concerned as I was,not trying to steal the kid. And I would likely have gotten the evil eye from that parent for 'interfering' with her kid....

 

[maxiesmom]

I just thought of something: Not saying it is something I agree with, but I have heard of parents, who are sick of their kids wandering off, hiding on purpose to reinforce why staying with mommy and daddy is important. If the child was indeed 2 and not older, that would be way too young for them to understand what is going on, but the age of the child the OP saw is just a guess.

Could be the child was older, and the parents were trying to prove a point. Or it could be just that they are idiots. I'm just saying I have heard of parents who hide on purpose.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I just thought of something: Not saying it is something I agree with, but I have heard of parents, who are sick of their kids wandering off, hiding on purpose to reinforce why staying with mommy and daddy is important. If the child was indeed 2 and not older, that would be way too young for them to understand what is going on, but the age of the child the OP saw is just a guess. Could be the child was older, and the parents were trying to prove a point. Or it could be just that they are idiots. I'm just saying I have heard of parents who hide on purpose.

maybe but the mom was videotaping the whole thing. When the man approached the child mom jumped out from behind the garbage can and grabbed her child. She told the older brother to send it to you tube

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

This is what I picked up on also.... OP, I know your heart was in the right place by noticing and wishing you could have helped those poor kids, but you kind of decided that a guy who was also watching/involved/probably a concerned parent also, was a pedophile who wanted to steal the kid..... It is harsh that a man attempting to help a screaming lost child is instantly viewed as evil- here's a big question .....(no one can really answer it here and now but..) if this kid was really screaming and lost, and this man was the ONLY person moving to try and help her,probably wanted to ask her name, calm her down,etc. Then why assume that he is a pedophile? If you,and no one else was moving to do anything, why is he a creep for caring? My DH would want to help,and he might even be seen drinking a beer later in the day too! Now I know statistics,etc. and I know I would have stopped in my tracks and approached a child of that age alone to help, but I would also assume that another person stopping to help was as concerned as I was,not trying to steal the kid. And I would likely have gotten the evil eye from that parent for 'interfering' with her kid....

in this day and age I would rather offend someone doing a good deed than just assume all people are good and have a child get hurt. I can be bashed for not first believing this guy was completely innocent I really don't care. I'm sure all of you that stated your husbands would do the same in this situation most likely would have had his families close by. And I guarantee if you had a small lost child and you saw a man separating your lost child from a crowd you would not assume he's trying to help and scoop your child up. I'm sure you wouldn't say anything negative to him and probably thank him for his help but in the back of your mind I'm sure most of you might have a tinge of what if.

 

[maxiesmom]

in this day and age I would rather offend someone doing a good deed than just assume all people are good and have a child get hurt. I can be bashed for not first believing this guy was completely innocent I really don't care. I'm sure all of you that stated your husbands would do the same in this situation most likely would have had his families close by. And I guarantee if you had a small lost child and you saw a man separating your lost child from a crowd you would not assume he's trying to help and scoop your child up. I'm sure you wouldn't say anything negative to him and probably thank him for his help but in the back of your mind I'm sure most of you might have a tinge of what if.

So now you saw the man separating the child from his family???? Please don't blow what you saw out of proportion. Not every man is a creeper, and it is sad that that is your first instinct.