What happens when...

What happens when ... a 7 year old kid is playing in a park, within sight of her mom?  Why, you call the cops, take the kid to the police station, and charge the mom with child endangerment, of course!

I have several reactions...

• My parents were serial child endangerers.  Under these rules, they probably would have been executed.
• This happened Westbrook, Maine (on the outskirts of Portland).  What the hell happened to Maine since the '50s and '60s, when I visited so many times?  
• If the same rules were applied here in Northern Utah, every parent I know would be charged with child endangerment – free range kids are the rule here.

I wonder what country will take over the U.S.'s position as the leader of the free world? At the rate we're going, we're likely to be conquered by Mexico...