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03 October 2007

So, I was sitting at a table at McDonald’s today [More:], and there was this guy and a boy sitting together across from me, who I barely noticed as I was sitting down to eat, but a little ways through my meal, I see this guy smack the little guy across the side of the head.Now, he was in my peripheral vision, so I wasn’t too sure what I’d seen, and I didn’t want it to look too obvious that I was looking at them, so I tried to observe him from the reflection of his in the window. He was a big mother fucker, well, not that big, but bigger than me I think (again, didn’t want to stare straight at him), so I was kind of in two minds about saying anything to the jerk (I’m not that brave), and while I start eating again—he hits the kid AGAIN. And this time, he hits him even harder. Now I’m really pissed and there’s nothing I can do (boy, I wish I was braver than I am), and I just sit there in a daze wondering what this guy is made of. Okay, I’ve had my share of fights with my sister, but hitting a little kid who can’t eat his Mexican Wrap properly. What. The. Fuck. And after he hits him, he sort of starts looking out the window without a care in the world. Looking at the people on the street, and the traffic moving by. The only time he speaks to the kid is when he has to scold him for something, and then he goes back to his stupid-ass looking around the god damn place. Now by this time, I’m really paying close attention to the both of them, and wondering if he does it again—should I step in, and maybe even get the staff to help me out. But then they’d probably tell me it was none of my business, and it’s not like I could report him to the police—like you can in the States. So I’m left sitting there, looking at this really cute kid, with round spectacles on his nose, a really short haircut, and a bermuda jeans and t-shirt, and I wonder how he can be related to this moron.

Oh, and if it’s of any consolation—the guy was talking in a foreign language. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t Indian.
I wonder what it is that people think they're teaching their kids when they hit them.
posted by iconomy 03 October | 10:16
A lesson, iconomy. That's what I was always told. A lesson in what I have no idea. Just 'a lesson'.
posted by essexjan 03 October | 10:34
That's the worst; I see it here now and again and I want to put a stop to it, but I know that an angry man bashing dad's head in with a brick might be even more traumatizing than the daily beatings are.
posted by Hugh Janus 03 October | 10:49
Ah yes: "LIGHTEN UP!!!" *SMACK*

What are the child abuse laws like in India?
posted by brujita 03 October | 10:50
McDonald's has Mexican wraps now?

This story is doubly horrifying.
posted by Atom Eyes 03 October | 11:06
What city? Bangalore?

The man is probably repeating an old pattern. People tend to raise their children in the same way that they themselves were raised, especially if they were abused.
posted by chuckdarwin 03 October | 11:11
Glad to see all aspects of American culture are getting exported. Most of the world's been suffering under the burden of cheerful, healthy, non-time-pressured indigenous cultures for far too long now.
posted by ikkyu2 03 October | 12:43
I'm not sure child abuse is a peculiarly American trait. Children do not do particularly well in most parts of the world.
posted by occhiblu 03 October | 14:07
I assume ikkyu2 is on about the fact that it took place in McDonalds; if I'm mistaken, then yeah, the idea that child abuse is an aspect of American culture exported to the previously innocent rest of the world is not just wrong, but stupid as well.
posted by Hugh Janus 03 October | 14:19
and it’s not like I could report him to the police—like you can in the States

totally, in the States, if you called the LAPD and tell them that you saw somebody at McDonalds needlessly and cruelly beating up a dark-skinned kid they'd be all like, "Hells no, that's OUR job!"
posted by matteo 03 October | 14:23
Well, I think "harried parent beats up kid for not staying pre-packaged neat and pre-packaged on-schedule" sounds fairly American, which is where I thought ikkyu was coming from. But yeah, the whole "Pick on the weakest members of society" thing is fairly universal at this point.

Though I'd actually blame capitalism for that one -- or, maybe actually just capital -- so that brings it back around to being Westerners' fault anyway.

I'm going to go eat my fries now.
posted by occhiblu 03 October | 14:39
A lesson in what I have no idea. Just 'a lesson'.
The same lesson their parents taught them, of course. Even if they don't know what it is, they learned it well and pass it on through the generations.
posted by dg 03 October | 17:43
I hate seeing people hit their kids in public. My mind always goes to "if they do that where everyone can see, what happens behind closed doors?"

It's an awful thing, and I always feel so helpless since I worry my saying something will mean the kid gets it even worse when they get home.

Years ago, when I was a cashier at the grocery store, a woman was being just brutal to her daughter (about three) in line. I had the manager call CPS on her (she paid with a credit card, so we had her name and the police got her address from that).
I was worried I did the wrong thing, but the woman behind her told me she'd sent her son out to get their plate numbers so she could call, too. Very reassuring since I was all of sixteen and had no idea what to do.
But yeah, if you're not in a situation where you can report them to the authorities it's tough as hell, doubly so if the authorities simply don't care. You never know if someone will retaliate against you or take it out on the kid or what.

(also... the mind boggles at eating McDonalds in India. Indian food is so good and McDonalds is so... well, McDonalds!)
posted by kellydamnit 03 October | 19:39
What city? Bangalore?

Hyderabad.

What are the child abuse laws like in India?

Not that good I'm afraid, as far as I know.

(also... the mind boggles at eating McDonalds in India. Indian food is so good and McDonalds is so... well, McDonalds!)

Yeah, I hear that a lot (but it's surprisingly popular over here, even with the foreigners), and Indians see it as a bit of a novelty, not to mention all the teens who're working in call centres and blowing their money on Fast Food--Pizza Hut, KFC, Subways.
posted by hadjiboy 03 October | 21:38
On holiday in Crete I once saw an English family group of grandmother, mother, father and angelic blond little girl of about three. They were sitting at a table opposite me outside a cafe. The child was quiet but inquisitive, in the manner of a small child. The mother smacked the child about once every two minutes or so, or any time the child spoke, sometimes a few times in a row. Hard enough for me to hear the sound, so it must have stung a bit. This was clearly not unusual behaviour and the rest of the family did not bat an eyelid.

I found it rather difficult to maintian my appetite and decided to leave. Had my friend not been an employee of the establishment (who were assholes and looking for a reason to sack her as the season drew to an end) I would have confronted them in some way. It is just so difficult to see how I could remonstrate with them without getting the child upset. Never mind what they would do to her after the event.

I considered following them and doing some social engineering to find out their home address and then reporting them to the authorities back home. I considered how difficult it would be to knock them all out and/or explore some pain compliance with the mother to demonstrate the ineffectual nature of violence as a teaching method. I considered whether a parent is necessarily also a guardian. I considered whether a child is better off within a family group who may be abusive but don't know any other way of showing their feelings. I considered whether any good could come from me intervening and decided that I could not help the situation then as I was too emotional.

I still don't know what I could have doen to make the life of that child better.
posted by asok 05 October | 07:06
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