Cellphone. Check.
Wallet. Check.
Luggage. Check.
Five-year-old daughter… hmmm… now where did I leave that kid of mine?
Those might not be the exact words used by the parents of the little girl left sleeping in a Boston taxi cab earlier this week, but I’m sure they’re darn close. What’s more, I’m even more confident that thousands of absent-minded moms and dads around the world can relate to the Massachusetts’ family’s heart-stopping incident.
The frightening tale began when the family of six took a cab home from Logan International Airport on Sunday. Apparently, the clan had just returned from a trip to Haiti and mom and dad were so busy unloading their bags, checking their cellphones and paying the cabbie that they failed to notice that their five-year-old daughter was asleep in the backseat of the minivan taxi.
According to police, it took the parents about 15 minutes to realize that the cab driver had unwittingly taken off with their child in the backseat. The cabbie, Joseph Cohen, who has 39 years experience as a driver, reportedly received a call from his boss notifying him that the child was still in his backseat. Cohen told local TV news reporters that he immediately returned to the girl’s home and reunited the child with her family.
The young girl was not physically harmed as a result of her parents’ inattentiveness… that’s the good news. The kicker to this story is the fact that the cab driver—-not the parents of the little girl-—ended up in hot water.
Cohen had faced a three-day suspension for violating rules that require drivers to inspect their cabs after dropping off customers, but police dropped the suspension after the story went national.
If you’re wondering why Cohen was singled out in the police investigation while the girl’s parents got off scot-free, the answer can be found in the fine print of a rule made centuries ago when taxis where known as hackney carriages. According to the decree: “Hackney Carriage Drivers shall, immediately after delivering any passenger, inspect the Hackney Carriage for any property, which may have been left behind by the passenger(s).”
Cohen technically violated the rule, but c’mon, people when was the last time a big city cab driver escorted you out of his vehicle, and then inspected the seats making sure that you didn’t leave behind any of your valuables?
Personally, I think the kid’s parents bear some responsibility in what appears to be an unfortunate accident. Granted, the girl’s mom and dad were probably just as exhausted as their kid and likely wanted nothing more than to get out of the cab, collect their belongings and hightail it inside.
Still, I can’t help but take note of the fact that the girl’s parents made sure they didn’t leave their expensive cellphones on the cab’s seats before exiting the vehicle. Unfortunately, they neglected to keep track of their own flesh and blood as carefully.
I’m just sayin’.
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