Friendly Neighborhood Man

Tonight I was walking to my Society Of Illustrators (SOI) meeting. Just strolling along the park sidewalk, minding my own business, when - Hark! What do mine eyes see? What do mine ears hear? Gee, SteveMan, its Domestic Violence in the Park! And with a new-born baby! I almost walked past, thinking, "Mind your own business." But then I thought that I didn't want to be one of those people they profile in 20/20 episodes as one of the mindless horde that doesn't care about other people (or only cares about other people if they are good looking enough). So I walked up and tried to interject, but the man and woman were screaming and hollering at each other, and grappling pretty roughly. I couldn't say whether he had hit her with any force, but it was definitely physical, and she was fairly hysterical. I took the baby from them and lamely stood five feet away as they continued to wrestle. The baby wasn't crying at all. He was just about six weeks old, so he slept through it all. Then the dude threw the lady to the ground and walked toward his car. I believe he was saying something like, "Take your son." And she was saying, "Don't leave me here!" Then he drove off, leaving her there in the park with their baby. He seemed to be concerned about going to jail. I gave her my cell phone to call whoever she wanted (the cops?). She called her mother and as she was on the phone, crying, another three people walked up to help. One of the them was a nurse-lady and she really took over (thank god!). She called the police and gave a very detailed, professional account. Two squad cars showed up a few minutes later and they took a report, including my name and number. Since the dude was no longer there, they could not arrest him, but the lady could file for a warrant if she wanted. She said she wanted. Frankly, I think she will be back with him in two weeks, just like every other Cheaters episode. The lady was nineteen and the dude, twenty-four. Apparently he had just lost his job and was not willing to support his son financially as much as the lady wanted (at all). In fact, he apparently was claiming that it was not his son, just like Maury. My question is: why do people have to suck? I don't claim to say that he is the only one at fault in the situation. I have no idea what their situation was, really, but both of these people are at fault. They are at fault for bring a child in the world when they were not mature enough to even handle themselves. The baby was the cutest thing (besides Marigold and our kitties), by the way.

I walked on to my meeting, fifteen minutes late.