DC parents leave kids in car for wine tasting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't read each post but are the parents still employed after all of this?

Despite currently being tried in the court of public opinion and the media, they are still innocent until proven guilty. Being accused of a crime is not grounds for dismissal unless you are emploeyd in a highly visible and political position. Being convicted of a felony is often grounds for termination so it really matters how this plays out. But losing their jobs now would be premature .

I think one of them is a fed employee; but in general, most people are at-will employees, so being arrested could certainly be grounds for dismissal. If you are at-will, your boss can fire you because they don't like the tie you wore to work.

If you get convicted of a Felony-grounds for firing in Feds.
Arrest/conviction of certain misdemeanors could certainly affect security clearance. If it's a serious charge an employee will be put in suspension leading up to trial.

My spouse is a Software consultant/engineer that has worked on contracts with the Feds that required one of the highest levels of security. Obtaining this was a big deal and lucrative have. Something like this could certainly negatively affect such a clearance.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what Ris management think of all this?
They are getting lots of attention, maybe not such good attention, but their name is now all over the place.

WTOP aired a quote from Ris that they allow children and the children would have been welcomed at the wine tasting and management had no idea the kids were in the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something tells me the PPs who feel badly that the kids are not with the (negligent) parents right now wouldn't feel remotely the same about returning two young toddlers to the care of similarly negligent parents if they were poor and/or non-white and/or obvious substance abusers. But those kids also love and miss their parents, and also have routines that are comforting.

You feel badly for these kids because they look like yours, or like your kids' preschool classmates. Same goes for the parents. They have an upscale home in a nice neighborhood. So you give them the benefit of the doubt: their crime becomes one of stupidity rather than cruelty. Whereas you've probably never thought twice about the fact that the little kids of meth heads and crack whores also cry from their parents when CPS intervenes.

I'm glad to see CPS taking a tough stance. Just because you live in a million dollar condo and drive a Volvo doesn't mean you're not a danger to your children.

I would guess that the folks in CPS are licking their chops to make an example of affluent, non-African American DC parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something tells me the PPs who feel badly that the kids are not with the (negligent) parents right now wouldn't feel remotely the same about returning two young toddlers to the care of similarly negligent parents if they were poor and/or non-white and/or obvious substance abusers. But those kids also love and miss their parents, and also have routines that are comforting.

You feel badly for these kids because they look like yours, or like your kids' preschool classmates. Same goes for the parents. They have an upscale home in a nice neighborhood. So you give them the benefit of the doubt: their crime becomes one of stupidity rather than cruelty. Whereas you've probably never thought twice about the fact that the little kids of meth heads and crack whores also cry from their parents when CPS intervenes.

I'm glad to see CPS taking a tough stance. Just because you live in a million dollar condo and drive a Volvo doesn't mean you're not a danger to your children.

I would guess that the folks in CPS are licking their chops to make an example of affluent, non-African American DC parents.

Didn't the charges already get reduced?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something tells me the PPs who feel badly that the kids are not with the (negligent) parents right now wouldn't feel remotely the same about returning two young toddlers to the care of similarly negligent parents if they were poor and/or non-white and/or obvious substance abusers. But those kids also love and miss their parents, and also have routines that are comforting.

You feel badly for these kids because they look like yours, or like your kids' preschool classmates. Same goes for the parents. They have an upscale home in a nice neighborhood. So you give them the benefit of the doubt: their crime becomes one of stupidity rather than cruelty. Whereas you've probably never thought twice about the fact that the little kids of meth heads and crack whores also cry from their parents when CPS intervenes.

I'm glad to see CPS taking a tough stance. Just because you live in a million dollar condo and drive a Volvo doesn't mean you're not a danger to your children.

I would guess that the folks in CPS are licking their chops to make an example of affluent, non-African American DC parents.

All the more reason not to do something so f@cking stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what Ris management think of all this?
They are getting lots of attention, maybe not such good attention, but their name is now all over the place.

WTOP aired a quote from Ris that they allow children and the children would have been welcomed at the wine tasting and management had no idea the kids were in the car.

Yeah -- bullshit. I'm sure kids are technically allowed, but I can imagine the looks that staff would have given any couple walking into a wine tasting with a 2 and 3 yr old. Not saying that was a reason to show up and leave the kids in the car, but now with their name everywhere Ris HAS to say "oh no we would have LOVED to have the kids here," what else are they going to say?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something tells me the PPs who feel badly that the kids are not with the (negligent) parents right now wouldn't feel remotely the same about returning two young toddlers to the care of similarly negligent parents if they were poor and/or non-white and/or obvious substance abusers. But those kids also love and miss their parents, and also have routines that are comforting.

You feel badly for these kids because they look like yours, or like your kids' preschool classmates. Same goes for the parents. They have an upscale home in a nice neighborhood. So you give them the benefit of the doubt: their crime becomes one of stupidity rather than cruelty. Whereas you've probably never thought twice about the fact that the little kids of meth heads and crack whores also cry from their parents when CPS intervenes.

I'm glad to see CPS taking a tough stance. Just because you live in a million dollar condo and drive a Volvo doesn't mean you're not a danger to your children.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something tells me the PPs who feel badly that the kids are not with the (negligent) parents right now wouldn't feel remotely the same about returning two young toddlers to the care of similarly negligent parents if they were poor and/or non-white and/or obvious substance abusers. But those kids also love and miss their parents, and also have routines that are comforting.

You feel badly for these kids because they look like yours, or like your kids' preschool classmates. Same goes for the parents. They have an upscale home in a nice neighborhood. So you give them the benefit of the doubt: their crime becomes one of stupidity rather than cruelty. Whereas you've probably never thought twice about the fact that the little kids of meth heads and crack whores also cry from their parents when CPS intervenes.

I'm glad to see CPS taking a tough stance. Just because you live in a million dollar condo and drive a Volvo doesn't mean you're not a danger to your children.

I would guess that the folks in CPS are licking their chops to make an example of affluent, non-African American DC parents.

Ip
Didn't the charges already get reduced?

What are the charges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what Ris management think of all this?
They are getting lots of attention, maybe not such good attention, but their name is now all over the place.

WTOP aired a quote from Ris that they allow children and the children would have been welcomed at the wine tasting and management had no idea the kids were in the car.

Yeah -- bullshit. I'm sure kids are technically allowed, but I can imagine the looks that staff would have given any couple walking into a wine tasting with a 2 and 3 yr old. Not saying that was a reason to show up and leave the kids in the car, but now with their name everywhere Ris HAS to say "oh no we would have LOVED to have the kids here," what else are they going to say?!

No, it's a restaurant not a nightclub. I've taken my kid there during the day on a weekend. It's a place where people would be irritated by a screaming infant at 9pm, but it's a normal, fancy west end restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what Ris management think of all this?
They are getting lots of attention, maybe not such good attention, but their name is now all over the place.

WTOP aired a quote from Ris that they allow children and the children would have been welcomed at the wine tasting and management had no idea the kids were in the car.

Yeah -- bullshit. I'm sure kids are technically allowed, but I can imagine the looks that staff would have given any couple walking into a wine tasting with a 2 and 3 yr old. Not saying that was a reason to show up and leave the kids in the car, but now with their name everywhere Ris HAS to say "oh no we would have LOVED to have the kids here," what else are they going to say?!

No, it's a restaurant not a nightclub. I've taken my kid there during the day on a weekend. It's a place where people would be irritated by a screaming infant at 9pm, but it's a normal, fancy west end restaurant.

At 3:30 pm on a Sunday it would have been okay--but I still don't see why this tasting was such a high priority to ditch the kids with no care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what Ris management think of all this?
They are getting lots of attention, maybe not such good attention, but their name is now all over the place.

WTOP aired a quote from Ris that they allow children and the children would have been welcomed at the wine tasting and management had no idea the kids were in the car.

Yeah -- bullshit. I'm sure kids are technically allowed, but I can imagine the looks that staff would have given any couple walking into a wine tasting with a 2 and 3 yr old. Not saying that was a reason to show up and leave the kids in the car, but now with their name everywhere Ris HAS to say "oh no we would have LOVED to have the kids here," what else are they going to say?!

No, it's a restaurant not a nightclub. I've taken my kid there during the day on a weekend. It's a place where people would be irritated by a screaming infant at 9pm, but it's a normal, fancy west end restaurant.

At 3:30 pm on a Sunday it would have been okay--but I still don't see why this tasting was such a high priority to ditch the kids with no care.

Because they did it before so it is routine for them?

[Anonymous]

I've been following this thread with a lot of interest - and have commented before... But you know what I realized tonight? If I left my sleeping babies in a car a block and a half away, I wouldn't enjoy the wine tasting. It would just be too stressful. And I'm curious what kind of person would be able to enjoy going out whole leaving their kid in a precarious situation - they're educated enough to know it wasn't the best choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't read each post but are the parents still employed after all of this?

Despite currently being tried in the court of public opinion and the media, they are still innocent until proven guilty. Being accused of a crime is not grounds for dismissal unless you are emploeyd in a highly visible and political position. Being convicted of a felony is often grounds for termination so it really matters how this plays out. But losing their jobs now would be premature .

I think one of them is a fed employee; but in general, most people are at-will employees, so being arrested could certainly be grounds for dismissal. If you are at-will, your boss can fire you because they don't like the tie you wore to work.

If you get convicted of a Felony-grounds for firing in Feds.
Arrest/conviction of certain misdemeanors could certainly affect security clearance. If it's a serious charge an employee will be put in suspension leading up to trial.

My spouse is a Software consultant/engineer that has worked on contracts with the Feds that required one of the highest levels of security. Obtaining this was a big deal and lucrative have. Something like this could certainly negatively affect such a clearance.

The Merit Systems Protection Board has severely limited pre-trial suspensions for nondangerous circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been following this thread with a lot of interest - and have commented before... But you know what I realized tonight? If I left my sleeping babies in a car a block and a half away, I wouldn't enjoy the wine tasting. It would just be too stressful. And I'm curious what kind of person would be able to enjoy going out whole leaving their kid in a precarious situation - they're educated enough to know it wasn't the best choice.

Education has nothing to do with being a (good) parent.

[Anonymous]

I've been following this thread with a lot of interest - and have commented before... But you know what I realized tonight? If I left my sleeping babies in a car a block and a half away, I wouldn't enjoy the wine tasting. It would just be too stressful. And I'm curious what kind of person would be able to enjoy going out whole leaving their kid in a precarious situation - they're educated enough to know it wasn't the best choice.

This this this. I would be so stressed out. I cannot explain it but there is an internal clock inside of me that is basically just on when the kids are awake. I basically couldn't enjoy a glass of wine unless they are safely tucked in their own crib/bed. And even then I'm super careful not to go overboard if they need me later.