Fatherhood does things to you....

And I used to be a serious hardass. Really hard...cold, even. Or, so I was told by more than one person, on more than one occasion.

Well, becoming "Daddy" has a way of taking the edge off, at least for me...and softening things. Tragic events were just things reported on the evening news and not things that provided bother, much less consideration. If it didn't impact my little schedule, it was hardly worth me giving any thought to, much less sympathy for people "I didn't even know."

Now, bad things happening to kids has become a serious bother for me. I mean, troubling and upsetting. A couple of months ago, I had a few things to say about a small boy, killed by a pair of dogs in Morganza, Louisiana. As that story went, it was an accident and probably very much a fluke of nature--still, completely and totally tragic for an entire community. Thinking of it hurt my soul, as I know how much my little man means to me. In a situation like that, you have to believe that God does such things for a reason, lest you go nuts being troubled by it.

The latest happening, in addition to being troubling and vexing, makes me fucking mad.

From The Advocate on Thursday, 1 July:

A 3-year-old girl died Wednesday after being left inside a day-care
center van parked in an uncovered driveway for almost six hours.

I first heard the story on the radio and was troubled immediately just by the scant information given in the initial reports. Adding to the somewhat nauseating feeling it gave me, knowing that I passed by that place, as this was happening, gave me that feeling you get right before your skin gets a little clammy. Troubling. Very, very troubling.

The more information revealed, the more troubling I found the whole episode and the angrier I found myself becoming. I'm not even going to get into the details...you can read it for yourself. So, now I'm sad AND angry...and then someone calls into WJBO yesterday morning, suggesting that perhaps there should be some sympathy for the daycare workers because of this accident as they're going to have to live with this for the rest of their lives.

How about you have some sympathy for them--I actually would like to see them burnt at the stake. All three of them that were in that van, that lost track of that little girl. I don't know what's going to come of the police investigation or what action District Attorney Hillar Moore may take. I do know that jail would certainly be too easy for anyone involved here.

Hard and cold may still have their applications.