Stranger slaps toddler in Georgia Walmart

Let me set the scene… you are in Walmart and your 2-year-old is tired and crying but you are trying to squeeze in a last minute shop. A guy in your aisle tells you that “if you don’t shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you.” You ignore him because although he may be an ass you don’t expect him to actually do anything. Then, when your little girl continues to cry into the next aisle, this strange man grabs your baby and slaps her across the face four or five times. That’s what 61-year-old Roger Stephens did in a Georgia Walmart.

The article on CNN doesn’t tell us how the mother reacted ^[1] but I am curious as hell. Ever since a friend in college played the “what if” game with me, weekly for four years, I always ask myself how I think I would handle random situations other people are faced with — like this one. So, what if that was my kid? Would I be too stunned and freeze with fear. No way. I can say with 100% confidence that I wouldn’t freeze. And now that this has happened to someone else I will be prepared with a reaction should some unlucky fellow try to do this to my kid. I think I would immediately try to gouge out his eyes. I am small so I have to go for a weak area and I am guessing his testicles weren’t easy to reach since he was facing the little girl. I certainly would have cursed him out and aggressively gone after him, even if it meant pulling his brown hair out of his head. Maybe I would be lucky enough to be in an aisle with baseball bats. In fact, I think I might end up being the one arrested if it was my kid he decided to take out his superstore-rage on. Don’t they sell guns at Walmarts in Georgia? Now don’t get me wrong — I don’t think this crime warrants Roger’s inclusion in this website’s weekly column People Who Should be Killed This Week ^[2]; however, he should get a good beat down.