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Awwwww! I have this sweet mental picture of your daughter saying that pledge.

While initially reading this, I got so angry that I took a few minutes and went to shower.....to collect my thoughts so I could sit down and type a response.

I once saw a woman (in a K-Mart) holding her daughter by one arm and whacking her ass as she made her way out of the toy section. Now, I have NO idea exactly what could have prompted this woman to get so angry with, what looked to me, a 3-4 y/o little girl, that she would crack her so hard on the ass that my great grandmother felt it. And, I mean this woman was pissed. I had a dire urge to somehow stop this "obvious abuse". I looked at my husband and I knew he was thinking the same thing. But, in the few seconds (seemed like minutes) that it took for this woman and her child to cross our path, I couldn't come up with a single reason as to why I could intervene in a situation that I had no grounds to stand on. I didn't know this woman or her child. She was spanking her child (albeit, it seemed like a more than necessary spanking) on the butt, not beating her like you would hear of in most child abuse cases. I don't agree with spankings, but I don't have children and so I can't say if I would ever have a need to use physical disipline in certain instances that deemed it. I just know I ached to stop this situation and yet I knew I had no right to infringe on a family matter that didn't really concern me. Now, if this woman had of been pushing and punching this little girl, you can bet I would have been all over her like white on rice. But, I let her pass without saying a word. Imagine that! Me, keeping my mouth shut!

My point? We can't expect everyone to do as we do and think as we think. There is a time and place to take a stand against something we feel is a worthwhile cause to stand behind. Child abuse is a touchy subject and some people take the definition of it to extremes. To know when to intervene and to know when to back off is the ultimate stand one can take. When we start interjecting our very personal opinions into a situation that we may not agree with and is really none of our business, we are then infringing on the rights of the person we are adressing.

Ironically, this woman that spoke to your wife was using her right to freedom of speech and expression in a situation where an innocent little girl was, too, excercising that very right. To say the least, this was very bizzare behavior on the woman's part! If your wife had of been "making" your daughter repeat the pledge over and over again and maybe getting angry with her if she did it wrong or wanted to stop but your wife wouldn't let her, I can almost understand why someone might say something about abuse. I wouldn't have been that person, but I can "almost" understand someone saying something. That this 18y/o "woman" took a stand, at this place and time, against something that is clearly NOT abuse makes me so angry that if I were standing behind her in line and overheard this disruption going on, I too (like the cashier) would have said something to her. But, I would have whispered it in her ear....so that your daughter wouldn't have been any the wiser to the idiots that use their misguided notions to make themselves feel so much better than everyone else.

Oh.....and I would have said, "Lady, if you don't back off, I'm gonna take you outside and show you exactly what abuse actually feels like......so you'll know the difference the next time you feel the need to speak on it's behalf"!

Excellent idea skip! To write to the paper to thank the cashier, I think, is the best course of action. And I hope with all hope that the woman who did this will read your contribution.