This is the kind of thing you don’t play around about…

We see news stories every summer about kids and pets being left in hot cars, and the outcome is usually absolutely tragic.

Well, the guy who wrote this story wasn’t about to let that happen…

So he took action!

Check out what he had to say!

Don’t lie about leaving kids in your car in the Texas heat to get a parking spot.

“A few years ago, during COVID, I had my pregnant wife and three kids with me as we stopped to get groceries at HEB.

Not an ideal situation to have the entire “circus” together for grocery shopping, but I was what it was.

It’s summer, it’s Texas, and it’s hot. Think 95F in the sun and 135F+ in a car with the windows up.

As we look for a spot in the very busy parking lot, a guy coming down the aisle in the other direction, cuts in front of us and parks in the “Expectant Mother or With Children” parking.

What a creep!

Giant jerk.

We park, a lot, further down the isle and as we’re walking towards the store, this guy gets out of his car (car off, windows up) and starts walking in front of us to get to the store.

I’m not sure why it took him 5 minutes to get out of his car after being in such a hurry to park, but I figure it’s consistent with the narcissistic personality.

I say to him while pushing the stroller, “Hey, that parking is really for pregnant women and for families with small children.”

He says, “Yes, the . . . the kids are in the car” in a very dismissive way making it very clear he thought that was an okay thing to say.

He called him out on it.

But I decide to play along with his nonsense and reply, “It’s too hot for anyone to be left in a car without air conditioning. That’s not safe”.

We’re getting close to the front of the store. He waives me off and says, “They’ll be fine, don’t worry about it”.

I decide he has just warranted some payback as my wife and I are trying to keep two kids (4 yrs. & 2 yrs.) from running in front of cars for 300′ further in a very busy parking lot, while pushing another in a stroller, than we would have if he had not taken the space.

Almost as if those spaces have a purpose.

He wasn’t playing around!

As we enter the store, there is a manager near the front and I approach her and tell her word-for-word what this gentleman said to me and point him out. I tell her I didn’t see any kids in the car, but I didn’t look closely. I thought someone should know about the exchange.

This grocery store chain ranks just below a religious institution in Texas and they take their community involvement, sports celebrity commercials, PR, and image seriously. They are not going to ignore a possible life-threatening issue.

Kids and pets in cars in Texas summers can die in less than 15 minutes. The store typically has a police presence on-site, more for peace-of mind and criminal deterrence than anything else.

He was doing the right thing!

If this guy actually did have kids in the car, I have a responsibility to report it. My belief of whether or not what he said was true is, frankly, inconsequential.

All I had to do was repeat exactly what he said to the right person, and his words would be his own undoing.

Manager says, “Thank you, we will look right into it” and I decide whatever happens, I’ve only repeated exactly what he said to me and was honest that I didn’t see any kids in the car.

We finish our shopping, about 25 minutes after entering, and as we are walking to our car – the jerk is standing next to his car and animatedly speaking to a constable that has very a disapproving look on his face.

I smile and think to myself, “He’ll be fine, don’t worry about it”.”

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Now check out what readers had to say about this.

This person has been there…

Another individual spoke up.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a neighbor who steps in to stop illegal driveway construction for friends down the road.

And this Reddit user was shocked.

He did the right thing!

It’s clear that this guy was being reckless…

And he sounded like a bit of a jerk, too…

This guy sounds like the Father of the Year, huh…?