Something else that bothers me about that story from two days ago: the neighbors.

I'm not actually faulting the neighbors. They did the right thing. And I don't know them any more than I know the mother from the story -- maybe they've spoken to her about leaving her kids alone like that. Maybe this is like the 20th time they've seen it, and they couldn't take it any more. Likely, they have just as many problems in their own lives, and they're not about to take on hers, too.

But... I'm thinking about my own great-grandma. She was in a similar position in a very different time. Her neighbors knew her situation. They didn't call the cops on her. They left anonymous food baskets outside the door, knowing she'd never actually seek out charity. And given that they were little old Italian ladies, I'm betting those were some damn fine food baskets. Believe me, I don't think there ever were any "good old days," but that doesn't mean we can't pick the good stuff from the past and incorporate it into nowadays. In this case, more personal interaction with your neighbors.

I'm just saying it's a shame that the mom's kinda on her own with those kids. I mean, the first thought should be, "Where's the father? Why isn't HE taking care of the kids?" But for all I know he's got a night job, too.

And maybe she'd exhausted all her favors from the neighbors. Maybe they're tired of watching her kids for her. Maybe they've worked all DAY and the last thing they need is to watch a couple more kids. I don't know. What I DO know is, one building I visited in the course of my career in the low-income housing realm developed their own child-care sharing system amongst the neighbors. We could use more of that kind of thing, I think.