Next Time, Call The Police And Be Done With It

Back in the seventies, I worked in a library that was part of a municipal complex. At closing time one evening — 9:00 pm — we realized that a brother and sister, under the age of ten, were in the children’s room unsupervised. They told us their parents were playing tennis.

Policy said we should call the police, but one of my colleagues very kindly took the children by the hand (literally) and walked them a block to the tennis courts.

This was after her sign-out time, of course, and if one of the kids had fallen down and gotten a bloody nose the parents could have sued the city and my colleague would have been, at best, disciplined.

Colleague: “Please don’t leave your children in the library unsupervised.”

Mother: *Snottily* “Oh, was it so hard for you to bring them over here?”

Yeah, you’re welcome.