One strange hour of my life
Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:59 am
On Wednesday afternoon around 2:50 I went on my break and walked over to WalMart. Just before I got to the front door I coincidentally run into my kids and mother-in-law as they're leaving. While chatting it up on the sidewalk in front of the store I hear my m-i-l telling this 3-yr-old to get out of the street. I turn to look and sure enough there's a little kid (with Down's syndrome) trucking along with a Lightning McQueen hat right in the middle of the driving lane in front of Wally World. She walks out and takes his hand and brings him over to us and begins asking him where his mommy is? I look around expecting to see a mom chasing him down, but there's no mom in sight. I look some more. Still no mom. Hmm? We ask the kid where his mom's car is, but he can't articulate that. He just keeps pointing at the pop machine. We keep waiting for what by now will be a frantic mom to come running up and keep looking and listening for this surely freaking out mom. Still no mom. 5 minutes goes by. 10 minutes go by. They seem like hours. We contact Walmart staff and take him inside to the service counter. They announce that there's a lost boy and give a description. Still no mom. We disburse and I tour through a couple aisles and then back to the service counter, still no mom. They continue to announce. I leave and as I'm walking back to work keep an eye out while beginning to ponder the situation. Did someone just dump this kid and leave? A sick, troubling thought, but I'm stumped for an answer to how this could be. As I'm about to sit down at my workstation I see a woman out in front of our office on a cell phone. On the off chance she's looking for the kid I go out and sure enough this woman knows of a woman looking for a child. The mother is in the business next to my office. I go find her and inform the ashen-faced 30ish woman of her child's whereabouts. Her son, it turns out, ran out of Les Schwab Tire and made a beeline to Walmart about two city blocks away, which for a 3-year-old is a good distance while she was arranging to get new tires. I didn't ask how she lost track him, but she did say he runs off a lot. OK. This all took about 30 minutes, which must've seemed like an eternity to her.
Right after that I left work early and took a drive up to Unionville, which is just south of the Last Chance Gulch area of Helena. On the way back I pull off the road to stretch. I walk around my car, over to the small gully on my side of the road, along the road about 50 feet from car. This takes about 2-3 minutes. I stop. Look across the road and...there's a big black bear staring at me just a few feet off the road on the hillside bank. I look at the bear. I look at my car. The bear is closer to my car than I am. Not good. The bear begins walking uphill and away from me, thankfully, and I slowly walk back to my car. Get in. Take a few pictures and start driving home. I look at my clock it's 3:50. In a one hour span I come across a lost three-year-old and am staring face-to-face with a damn big black bear.
Right after that I left work early and took a drive up to Unionville, which is just south of the Last Chance Gulch area of Helena. On the way back I pull off the road to stretch. I walk around my car, over to the small gully on my side of the road, along the road about 50 feet from car. This takes about 2-3 minutes. I stop. Look across the road and...there's a big black bear staring at me just a few feet off the road on the hillside bank. I look at the bear. I look at my car. The bear is closer to my car than I am. Not good. The bear begins walking uphill and away from me, thankfully, and I slowly walk back to my car. Get in. Take a few pictures and start driving home. I look at my clock it's 3:50. In a one hour span I come across a lost three-year-old and am staring face-to-face with a damn big black bear.
