Grandparents Behaving Badly

I normally try to avoid personal pet peeves on my blogs, but an incident last Friday compels me to change my policy, at least for the moment.  The pet peeve is people who don't use crosswalks.  In this case it was a woman with three small children, including a baby in her arms.  I can still see the fear in the eyes of the little boy, probably four or five years old.  There he was on an island, as a few inches away cars whizzed past at 45 mph.   Rather than walk the twenty steps to the intersection, the woman chose to cross the street in front of a McDonald's.  This was no young mom, but rather a grandmother... someone who should have known better.  Evidently grandma had not read the article in the paper two days prior.  Another grandmother, along with her two grandchildren, had been seriously injured.  They too had tried to cross the street against traffic.

They are called crosswalks for a reason.  They are provided so that there is a safe place for people to cross busy streets.  Most municipalities have even provided signals that tells us when it is safe and when it is not.  Many now even have a system that indicates the time left until the light turns green and it is no longer safe.  In fact, it's against the law to ignore the signs and cross a street against the light.  It's called jaywalking, and unfortunately it is seldom enforced.  I shudder when I see children involved in at risk behavior.   It's particularly troubling when it is an adult who has made the decision that puts them in the line of fire.

As parents and grandparents we have a responsibility to make sure our children are safe and secure.  I also believe we have an obligation to avoid behaviors that set a poor example.  I view the excessive use of alcohol or the use of tobacco products as behavior that should be avoided when children are present.  Cabinets containing dangerous items should be locked and sharp objects out of sight.  In the same way, we should model positive and God-pleasing behavior in our language, including the things we say about other people.  We also need to be driving within the speed limit and... using crosswalks.

Parenting and grandparenting not only carries with them the responsibility to pass on the heritage of faith and values, but to model behavior that promote safety, good health  and proper citizenship,