Dateline Dayton – Isn’t it obvious that children should not live in harm’s way? The latest: Elijah J. Johnson, 13 months old, was shot and killed last Thursday in a drive-by homicide.
As usual, it’s a mixed-up scene. Besides the child, an 63-year-old woman was shot and so was the 25-year-old boyfriend of the mother. The lady drove the child and boyfriend to the hospital, but promptly left. Later the she was admitted to a different hospital, treated and released. The man declined to talk with police.
A car driven by suspects was found the next day after a chase in another stolen car. Two persons have been arrested. Cash, drugs and guns were found in the car the shot woman was driving. She is a City of Dayton employee. What a mess.
Why are children placed in these situations? Because caregivers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, boyfriends are not trained. Many of these people were not brought up in a family atmosphere. They have no idea what family life is. Nor do they know how to care for a child.
Even Dayton police agree. “Things said have to change,” one officer said. “This is the second small child to die in a short period of time.”
Change must come with education. Education will come with requiring a license to have children. A written test is a necessary prerequisite for your driver’s license. Many states require a formal driver’s training class prior to testing.
Having a child only requires a man and a woman. In some instances, the man need not be present.
All of that for driving — education, training, testing and a license. Yet there are no qualifications for having children. Something is wrong. Sure, all of this training should be provided in the home, but it isn’t.
Someday, I hope, someone with influence will climb onto this bandwagon. Dr. Phil mentioned licensing one time. No more.
Shall We Go for a Drive?
In a previous essay I wrote about how we were moving family cars around. The car I bought for our son Chris from our son Bill, was in the garage last week. Transmission lines were rusted and leaking. Next: Time to change the license plates. That turned out — as do most tasks I tackle — to be an ordeal. The back screws we have plated on both the front and back, broke while we were removing them.
At first, I thought we would need to take the car to the dealer. But I recovered one broken screw. Since I couldn’t get the pliers on the other screw, I decided to drill it out. Fortunately while Chris was getting his new title and transferring the plates, he purchased new screws, which we used after more drilling.
My Michigan son-in-law wanted his car back because my daughter left it here when she drove her new car home. , , Last Saturday, Chris drove my car and I drove my son-in-law’s back to Michigan. We met at a Toyota dealer in Indiana so I could get the airbags fixed on my son-in-law’s car. The dash airbag light was on. The passenger seat did not register the airbag was working. Turns out something was wrong with the seat. It must be replaced. I have enjoyed working with this Toyota dealership, much better than the Toyota folks back home.
On Monday night Pauline and I went to the Fifth Street Brewery, where members of the chorus to which Chris belongs, served as guest bartenders. The place was packed. We got a table after a short wait. Food was good, and Pauline enjoyed her one beer.
After pizza at Marion’s on Tuesday, we went to our granddaughter Julia’s freshman basketball game. But Carroll High lost 43-13.
Weather Thou Goest
It is so cold, but we have had only had a small amount of snow. Don’t know how we will be affected by the huge storm predicted for the East Coast this weekend.
Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net