Maybe I've watched too many police procedurals, but parking lots have always made me uneasy. Now comes the startling news that a mom was viciously beaten in the parking lot near a Florida holiday light display. Christine Beckwith says she was attacked by two women ... over a bad parking job!
The whole beat down happened right in front of Beckwith's three children, who had to watch as their mom was grabbed by the hair and thrown into the trunk of a car. Beckwith was then held down by one assailant as the other punched and scratched at her.
All this over a bad parking job?
Beckwith admits she hadn't parked quite straight, which is rather annoying to other drivers ... but at worst you leave a note on the person's car, right? The sin of a crooked car hardly seems worth a response of this magnitude. Unfortunately, you never do know what will set someone off, do you?
I think that's what makes parking lots so unsettling: you never know who is out there or what they have in mind. Road rage is scary enough, but generally you're in your own car, and you can at least hit the gas and drive away ... or hit the locks at the very least.
In a parking lot, you're defenseless. Worse, you're typically juggling packages or a shopping cart, making you more vulnerable. And if you're a mother, of course, you're particularly expose because any potential attacker knows you're likely to give up anything in order to protect your kids.
In addition to practicing safe parking practices -- parking in well-lit areas, parking as close to the store door as possible, getting my keys out while still inside the store, looking around me as I walk to and from my car -- there are certain places I simply won't shop at when my daughter is with me because I know moms have been attacked there before and I don't want to risk it.
But one would think a community's holiday lighting display would be in a "safe" area for a mom and her kids ... and one would hope that a crooked car wouldn't set someone off this way.
My heart goes out to this mom as she heals from her injuries and to her little ones as they recover from the trauma of what they had to witness. Here's hoping the cops catch these assailants and fast. As Christine's 9-year-old says, they're on Santa's naughty list for sure!
What do you do to keep your family safer in parking lots?
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Image via Click Orlando