Sick, sick, sick...

Saw a story today about a pair of “people” who are on trial for killing a toddler.

 

Because the baby was wetting the bed, they wouldn’t let the kid drink anything…  for a week.

Yea, not just “no, it’s too close to bedtime, sweetie, you’ll wet the bed” but no liquid-period.  They rubbed hot sauce on the rims of glasses to discourage the child from drinking out of cups.

 

After a few hours with no water, the human body starts to notice its absence.  We’ve all had the no-water headache.  After a couple of days without water, the body starts to malfunction.  After several days without water, the body starts to seriously malfunction—sometimes irreparably.  A child—any person, really—will complain about being thirsty.  I know MY son will cry, and cry, and cry, and generally pitch a damn fit if he needs some food or water.  After a few minutes of him pitching a fit I’ll usually manage to calm him down and coax him into using his rudimentary words to vocalize what he wants in a somewhat more productive manner than an all out hissy fit.

 

So, what sort of fucked up malfunction allows a caregiver—parent or not—to let a kid go on for several days needing water?  What sort of fucked up monster will watch a child die of DEHYDRATION?!?  THIS ISN’T SUB SAHARA AFRICA!!!!  Fresh, clean water literally pours out of just about any opening on command.  We have fresh, clean water sitting in porcelain tubs for hours at a stretch just waiting to accept our fecal remains so we can toss it out.  Entire villages would—and do—kill for the amount of water we, as individuals, throw away on a daily basis.  It must take herculean willpower to look at a dying child, there in your own house, and think to yourself “no, I won’t dip my little finger in the toilet to sooth his need.”

 

It must take abso-fucking-lutely herculean willpower to just sit there and watch a child die when life giving resuscitation is not even an arm’s reach away.  Sure, if it’s on TV you can flip the channel.  But there, in your own house, right in front of you, where you can’t turn away or change the channel, is a dying child and to just watch and do nothing is nothing short of astonishingly malicious and cruel.

 

Dropping the jail on top of these two is not nearly enough punishment.  They should be exiled to some place where mothers pray that their children will be healthy enough to wet the bed and the only comfort the parents have is the knowledge that in death, there is no more pain.