You guys know that I have a fur-baby/monster dog, right? He’s 100 pounds of sweetness, nuisance and bear cub realness. I used to take him in the car all the time, but he would always get overexcited, so I had to stop. One time, I left him in the car for literally five minutes while I ran into a drug store. It was a cool day (maybe 60 degrees or so), and I left the windows partially down. I came back to the car to find a judgy, bitchy note on the windshield telling me to never leave my dog in a hot car. Seriously. Someone acted like I was Justin Ross Harris (the man who not-so-accidentally left his baby in a hot car for eight hours).
Anyway, I bring this up because David Beckham did something similar. Sort of. He left his 9-year-old son Cruz in the SUV for an hour while David went to workout at Soul Cycle. The paparazzi got really judgy about it and even confronted David when he came out of Soul Cycle – go here to see the video. Beckham’s publicist had to issue a statement about it, saying that the nanny was in the car the whole time and that the air conditioning was on in the SUV.
David Beckham came under public scrutiny on Thursday after paparazzi photographs implied that he may have left his children in his black SUV for over an hour while attending a spin class in Brentwood, California. According to X17 Online, the soccer star’s 9-year-old son Cruz sat in the driver’s seat of the vehicle while his dad sweated it out at the gym.
A paparazzo told the site, “No one could believe what Beckham was doing. Some guys even stopped taking pictures and were just standing there, shocked.”
“It is complete lunacy to insinuate David would leave his kids in the car like that. There was a nanny and air conditioning,” a spokesperson for the soccer star told FOX411. “You have to be very wary of paparazzi making these assertions to create a story when there isn’t one.”
But given that temperatures in Los Angeles were in the high 80s on Thursday, legal experts say the matter and alleged photographic evidence could still be investigated further.
“David could shortly find himself in court facing child endangerment charges. Even though he left the car’s air conditioning on, the kids could have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning or, if one of them managed to get the car in gear, they could have been seriously injured,” trial attorney David Wohl explained.
Dr. Alan Christiansen also cautioned that leaving children in cars is never a safe practice.
“Thirty-eight kids die from heat stroke every year from being unattended in cars,” he said. “The air conditioning often does not work well enough to keep the car cool when the car is idling.”
The temperature inside a car can heat up between 20 to 30 degrees in an hour, and the temperature inside a car can rapidly increase despite air conditioning, which becomes less effective as the outside temperature rises, he said.
“Children’s’ bodies heat up almost five times faster than adults making them vulnerable to hyperthermia and organ damage,” added L.A-based medical professional, Dr. Shilpi Agarwal. “Unfortunately, even conscientious and careful parents often overlook this and it can have catastrophic health outcomes for children.”
While I can see why people want to use this as a teachable moment about not leaving your kids unattended for any length of time in a hot car, I feel like this might be the wrong moment to choose? Cruz Beckham is not an infant, for one. If he got hot, he could simply get out of the car and go into a Starbucks or one of the other shops in the area. He could have walked into Soul Cycle and shouted, “Time to go, Dad!” The real question I have is why in the world did David bring his son and a nanny to Soul Cycle when he was the only person who wanted a work out? This is why it might be a bit wiser to get a membership at a local YMCA – they offer tons of activities for kids while the parents are working out.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Why did they have to stay in the car?
Good question. And why did they even need to go with him to the gym? If the kid was with a nanny, why couldn’t they just stay home? More than one element of this story doesn’t add up.
My sentiments exactly. Why go somewhere just to sit in a car. Stay home and swim in the pool or just stay home…period. On the whole, nothing that happened was wrong, just a bit odd.
Word, Tiffany. That’s a long time for an adult to sit in a car, let alone a 9-year-old. And why not drop them off – really – anywhere?
Cruz probably WANTED to stay in the car. He probably had his ipad, wanted to chill out. It doesn’t sound like Becks was like, stay here for an hour, don’t move a muscle. He probably said, I need to work out, you can come in, stay in the car, or go to Starbucks with the nanny, what do you want to do? And Cruz, like many 9-year-olds would, chose to do his own thing in the car.
Exactly.
We chose staying in a car instead of going inside places with our parents. They’d put the car on accessory, or on, have the air blasting and the doors locked. Never to go to the gym, but we were also sensible enough not to tinker with the car, or let anyone else in.
That was my first thought, as well. With such an athletic and on the go family, he was probably happy to have an hour of down time to goof around with his iPad or whatever gadget he has.
I can’t get upset about a perfectly healthy nine-year-old, who is accompanied by an adult, being “left” in an air conditioned car for an hour.
LOL so true. A few months ago my husband and I were out running errands and his daughter was with us. When we got to Crate and Barrel, she basically refused to come out of the car (she is 11) because 1) she didn’t want to go to Crate and Barrel but mostly because 2) her Dad and I are so uncool! She is at the age where her parents induce constant eye-rolling in her. So we left her in the car with my smartphone and the doors locked, and she played computer games on the smartphone until we returned 45 minutes later. Honestly, it was better all around – she got some down time away from the grownups, and we were able to do some shopping for the kitchen without having to listen to a constant stream of complaints. Win-win!
My feeling is, if the kid is old enough to understand how to get out of the car and also not to unlock the doors for strangers, then they are old enough to be left alone in the car for a bit.
This exactly. My parents would leave us in the car once we were older like this and run into the store. Plus-if the nanny was with him-he wasn’t “unattended.”
Ok, I know kids that age can be quite……bratty. But to leave the car idling for an hour, that is what I am side eyeing.
+1
My parents left us in the car when we were that age. In Florida. A/C on, doors locked. If we got bored we’d go find mom in the store. Mine always comes with me, but he’s not nearly old enough to stay by himself.
Yup. The kid was in an air-conditioned vehicle. People need to relax.
This. Additionally, they were probably doing something together before or after the workout which is why the kid came along in the first place. People really need to back off and quit judging parents so harshly. Jeez.
Right? Why didn’t the nanny take them somewhere for an hour?
My 7yo always asks to stay in the car. I don’t have a nanny, so I have to tell him no, but I get leaving him there with an adult to supervise. This is dumb.
Yeah, I think it’s dumb, too, and you’re probably right. He was playing on his iPad or something.
Maybe the kid changed his minded when they arrived?
My 9 year old nephew always wants to stay in the car when we go on errands. He’s got his iPad and doesn’t want to stop playing.
I agree. The whole thing is odd. I’m sure they have access to plenty of cars – why didn’t the nanny just pick up Cruz herself separately? Even if they had to be together, why not just go to a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf or something nearby? Heck, even the gym probably had an area where a nine year old could hang out.
I’m not saying it’s child endangerment, but it still is rather strange.
Cause sometimes kids are playing on their Ipod or whatever and want to stay in the car when they find what you are doing boring. I leave my kid in the car when i am running in for bread and milk, not in high summer thats for sure but certainly in winter autumn and spring. I live in a small town and people dont judge each other so harshly. I think DB was okay, he is a good dad, that much is entirely obvious.
Nine year old in car. Nanny with. AC on. I fail to see the problem.
Good grief.
Leaving your car idling for an hour seems a bit ridiculous. If there was a nanny in the car why not take the kid elsewhere for that hour?
Maybe Cruz didn’t want to? I doubt David Beckham forced them to stay in the car.
Yeah I actually have no problem with him leaving his 9-year-old in the car but I think it’s an asshole move to leave your car idling for an hour. So bad for your child’s health, the health of others, and the environment in general. Gross.
I remember a recent thread where everyone was screaming about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. Guess people don’t care as much when it’s nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds coming from vehicle emissions.
If he left his car idling it was a straight-up selfish move. Completely lazy and self-serving at the expense of our health and the environment’s. No wonder L.A. has so much damn smog.
Can’t get over leaving the car running for an hour. That is crazy. If your kid knows where you are, how to get you, and is with an adult, and wants to hang out in the car = fine. Leaving the car running is not.
ITA agree that leaving the car idling SUCKS. I can’t tell you how many people do it — even in “no idling” school zones (which admittedly are unenforceable) and I have come to view it as selfish, thoughtless and ignorant. How hard is it to keep your windows open while you wait a few minutes to pick your kid up from school? Or to zip your coat up if it’s cold rather than blast your heat? It’s one of my major pet peeves because in the grand scheme of things it’s such an easy thing to just not do.
Hmmm. We have an idling law in our town, you can’t pollute the air for more than 15 min for no reason other than pure selfishness. I’d fire a nanny who sat in a car for an hour, there are a gazillion things to do.
Leaving the car running for an hour? Keep killing the planet, why don’t you? Where I live, it’s against the law to leave your car running for more than five minutes. The kid and nanny could have just gone somewhere to chill out (pun intended) for an hour.
Yep, I agree with @Karen and @TheOriginalKitten – What an a$$hole to leave his car on for an hour. So bad for the environment and this whole situation seems weird. I am surprised it didn’t run out of gas as well. It is interesting when you get an insight into a celebs world that they didn’t intend for you to see like the whole Solange-Jay-Z beat down and now we see that David Beckam is a selfish arrogant a$$hole who doesn’t give two sh*ts about the environment.
I read something once about David and Vicky’s massive carbon footprint. Maybe he figures it’s a drop in the bucket?
I am kind of divided on this matter.
In the article above, the doctor says “thirty-eight kids die from heat stroke every year from being unattended in cars,” which is true, but it does NOT apply to this case. The child was not “unattended”. It seems they are trying to shame him for an error that he did not commit. I think it is a VERY serious matter, and I think it is deceitful to try and blur the lines and imply that he left his kid alone in the car or to suggest the child was indangered.
On the other hand, I do think that leaving the car running for an hour is a jerk move and bad for the environment. However, that offense is nowhere near the horror that child endangerment is.
“However, that offense is nowhere near the horror that child endangerment is. ”
Just to clarify-I totally agree. I made my comment within the general agreement of previous posters that his son likely wanted to chill out in the car.
I figured you thought so, your comment didn’t read to me as if you were saying “screw the kid, save the earth”! 🙂 You tend to be a voice of reason, so I figured as much.
I am glad you brought up the environmental consequences for his choice, it doesn’t look like it was noted before you mentioned it. An hour is such a long time, I feel guilty if I let my car idle for a few minutes!
You assume he’s not lying. Which is pretty dumb. He’s more than likely lying, as others have pointed out, if there was a nanny in the car and she was available, why did the kid have to wait in the car for him? Doesn’t make any sense.
If he is lying, why won’t the paparazzi show pictures of the car with the kid inside all alone? That would prove them right. The absence of those pictures, combined with the paparazzi’s untrustworthy nature, makes me think it would be more foolish to trust their version of events than David’s. This story makes the photos they are trying to sell MUCH more valuable than they would be otherwise.
yeah – I don’t get the excitement. I opt to stay in the car with my iPod all the time when my honey and I are out running errands. With an adult there – this story is nothing.
So… it’s being presented like he did something wrong… but the car was on and the nanny was in the car? Whatever. Is it strange that he didn’t just take them home? Yes. Maybe the kid was planning on going in and then changed his mind? Who know. But it’s hardly a case of negligence. I hate this kind of misaimed shaming. Of all the people who do awful things THIS is what the paps were up in arms over? Please.
+1
Seems like people are trying to manufacture a scandal.
I agree, this ‘story’ is all spin. Also on a side note as young teens we used to beg to be left in the car, to read, escape parents, listen to music or play games while they were doing ‘boring’ shopping.
Yep. Personally, I’m not playing. Nothing to see here.
NEXT!
I agree. I would have a real problem if he left a 9 year old alone in a car for an hour, but he was supervised, so I think it was sort of bad planning at worst.
Exactly…the nanny was in the car…whats the problem?? The kid probably has a tv, ipad, iphone, video games and everything in between in the car…talk about blowing a situation out of proportion!!! The paps can really suck!!!
Not that I’m insinuating Cruz is being brattish, but it’s entirely possible – like you said – he was planning on going, and then got all huffy (as 9 year olds do) and staged a sit-in, so to speak.
I recall doing that as a kid.
“Nope, don’t want to go anymore.”
“Fine, sit in the car then.”
“Can I have the radio on?”
“Sure.”
“…Awesome!”
This ^^^^
I hate this shaming too. Beckham probably wanted to work out and take Cruz somewhere in the same area, or further on in the same direction, afterwards. It would just be a waste of time to drive down to Brentwood to work out, then all the way back home to pick up Cruz, and then all the way back down to where they had just been. “LA” is a huge area. Every time you get in the car, it usually takes 20 minutes, give or take, to get to the next place you are headed. Cruz was fine with nanny and his I pad, or TV or whatever he was doing.
I might be more inclined to pearl-clutch if the kid was left by himself in the car, but I assume the nanny is a responsible adult, otherwise they wouldn’t have hired him/her. Cruz was probably thrilled to have some time to chill in the car to text his friends or play whatever game the young’uns are into these days. I leave my kids in the car with my husband, with the A/C running, when I want to run into the supermarket or Target. Sometimes it even takes an hour. I can’t see that this is that different, and Cruz is A LOT older than my kids, too.
I have two – 11 and 10 – the other day we were going out to the grocery and I forgot my wallet so I headed back into my house to get it. It wasn’t where I thought and I had to hunt it down, by the time I got back into my car (which was hot, don’t get me wrong, but was parked right outside the door under the carport) my oldest was GLARING at me. I asked what the problem was and she explained, “Mom, you left us IN A HOT CAR. That is SOOOOO wrong!” (In the was only an almost 12 year old can say things.) I loled at her and she was livid and I was like, “Babe, YOU climbed into the car. YOU buckle your own self. If YOU get hot you can open the door or get out. You could have come back inside. You can’t leave babies in cars because they need to be tended to and they can’t free themselves.”
She was in a huff the whole afternoon, and I hadn’t even pointed out that they actually were not even in the car when I went back into the house so I had really left them next to the car and they climbed in…
Hilarious. Sounds just like my Tweens.
I have an almost 12 year old girl as well, so this made me lol. It also reminded me of my older son, when he was about 5, getting absolutely panicky in the back seat as I took a sip of coffee from a travel mug. “You can’t drink and drive!!!! The police will arrest you!” He was genuinely terrified.
LOL-oh you have to love the tweens!
I am sure the nanny was over 21. So the Newsflash is adult and child sit in car with AC on for an hour. I fail to see the problem.
Exactly. Bunch of creepy guys surrounding a car with a child in it merely because that child’s father is famous: that’s fine, apparently.
Wait. So there was an adult in the car with the child? Here’s a tea cup for that storm.
Sounds like the kid CHOSE to stay in the air conditioning with the nanny. Nine years old is old enough to negotiate a better deal. Sounds like bad time management but maybe they went to Cheesecake Factory afterwards!
What he did wrong was actually waste gas and pollute the air with carbon emissions by idling the car. The kid was fine.
Could’ve been a hybrid.
Yeah, no. This rule doesn’t apply to a kid capable of exiting the car if they get hot. Cruz is not a baby.
That’s crap thinking to leave the car running that long too. Environment. Pollution. Ugh.
In my car, in order to have the A/C on, the car must be on and running. so to me, the bigger scandal here is that his car was idling in the gym parking lot for an hour.
This! I can’t wrap my head around this degree of self-centeredness.
(Once again I posted before reading all comments, oops.)
Thank you! I posted the same above.
Not surprisingly, most people seem to overlook this part of the story.
I lost track of how many times, when I was 9, 10, 11, that I wanted to stay in the car listening to music while my parents went to buy groceries or have a cup of coffee… A 9 year old can even drive a car… Society at its best when it comes to criticizing others…
The 9 year old’s ability to put a car in motion would be my concern more than anything else. A 9 year old is capable of determining whether it is hot or cold and capable of opening a window or getting out of the car. But a nine year old alone in a car with the keys is also capable of driving the car into something or someone else. But this child was not unattended. It sounds like just another one of those odd things that happen when dealing with kids and nothing irresponsible, other than the harm to the environment and waste of fuel.
Aside from all the other barfy things about this situation, why *leave your car idling with AC on for an hour in smoggy LA?* What the heck is wrong with people?
EXACTLY!!!!!!!
Skip your “work out” or leave the kid at home. Clearly, he has a babysitter. I guess working out at home doesn’t give him enough attention? Yeah, running the car for an hour is gross & thoughtless, but serves nicely as a manifestation of his character.
Since the nanny, a responsible adult, was present I don’t see an issue with it. Plus the kid is capable of opening the door himself if he got hot.
I don’t get why they came to the gym with him- why not drop them off at home or at a library, mall, Starbucks etc?
I agree that leaving a car idling for an hour is worse than whatever they’re accusing him of here.
The kid probably wanted to go with dad but did not want to go into the gym.
I do not see the big deal. There was probably a video screen in the SUV and there was a nanny present. The a/c was on and even if it hadn’t been windows could be put down. Cruz was supervised.
My pearls are not clutched at this one.
New Mommy lets me sit in the car polluting the environment while Daddy works up a sweat. Voila- I learn another great lesson about waste and selfishness, and will very likely spend my life seeking out Daddy’s attention by being an even bigger douche than he is. Mission accomplished.
Ummmmmm. Ok.
Are you suggesting the nanny is in some way the kids’ new mommy? That’s a reach. Plenty of people employ household help or chilcare in or outside the home – and, yes, everyone involved can grow to care about and even love employees of this kind, but to say that the nanny replaces a parent is ridiculous. Say what you will about the Beckhams, but it does seem that they’re involved parents, at least.
I’d hardly call leaving your kid in the car with a nanny while you GO TO THE GYM being an involved parent. It’s awful, especially the pollution aspect and that isn’t being “judgey”, that’s a fact.
I agree, Gigi, they seem like very hands on parents. This was bad for the environment, but I’m not sure why New Mommy and Involved are acting like it’s a life altering event that will scar the child forever. My mom left me in the car at that age to run in the grocery store, and it was tough, life was hard, but with a lot if therapy and alcohol, I muddled through.
LOL, GoodNames – I’m pretty sure, New Mommy, Involved? and Look Out! are all the same person… I feel like we’re flooded with this kind of poster today… And yes… the car running thing is the only offense I can legitimately see here!
The people who want to treat 9 year olds like infants and toddlers are beyond ridiculous. There was a woman here in trouble for leaving her 12 year old in the car. I was babysitting when I was 12. When a kid is old enough to unbuckle and get out of the car, they are fine. The bigger issue I have is why in God’s name did he have his car idling for an hour? AC doesn’t run if the car isn’t on.
Totally agree. I however never leave my 12 year old in the car even when he begs me to. It’s not that don’t trust him. It’s that I’m afraid some busybody will call the police, and we wouldn’t have the resources to defend ourselves.
My question is your question, Kaiser. It just seems so unnecessary. David at home to the kids, “Hey, guys I am going to Sun Cycle, want to come?” Kids, “No Dad. We good.” David, “K. Check ya later. The nanny will get you lunch while mommy pouts.” Kids,”Got it.” Seriously, though, if it had been Harper, even if the air conditioning was on, and the nanny was in the car, it would have been really questionable judgement.
He’s nine! My 10yr-old would much rather stay in the car with his beloved iPad than go to the gym with me. And I would even leave him w/o a nanny, he is plenty old enough to come inside and complain when he gets hot/cold/hungry/lonely/whatever.
While I don’t understand why they would just sit in the car for an hour I think this is ridiculous. I’m sure he has a very nice car with great air conditioning (unlike mine) and there was a nanny to make sure the kid didn’t mess with any of the gears. Kid probably spent the hour playing with a tablet.
TBH the kid may have wanted to stay in the car. I’m sure he has video games, a blue-ray player, iPad etc in the car with him – it’s a Beckham kid. If he had a nanny with him, I don’t see the bfd. My stepson always wants to go to the store with us – he loves riding in his dad’s Jeep – but he always wants to stay in the Jeep with his iPad. He’s 13-years-old and the doors and top are off, so … I can see Beckham’s side of this.
Well, if someone was in the car with Cruz, I don’t see the issue.
I’m just surprised that they (the nanny and Cruz) didn’t just go into the gym and sit down and hang out there for an hour. I would think a cramped car would get old after, oh, 10 minutes!
This is a non story, sounds like the paps are trying to make it one though .
I’m more upset he left his car running for an hour. Waste of fuel.
I think this is the big scandal. Certainly not leaving the kid with a nanny.
A woman was arrested for allowing her nine year old to play in a park unattended. A NINE YEAR OLD.
When I was nine, I routinely rode my bike over state borders– wherever I wanted. I pretty much lived on my bike. As long as I was home by dinner, there were no questions.
I know it’s illegal to leave a minor unattended in a parked car in my state. Wouldn’t be surprised if that true in many states, but it is dictated by state law, not federal.
Hmmm….so he left his car idling for an hour. The hippie in me is smh.
I don’t see why he even brought Cruz or the nanny since it’s Soul Cycle. As a recall, they don’t have a play area or anything. And it’s not like Cruz could have hopped on the bike for a spin. I think you have to be at least 12 to do that.
It’s LA. Traffic. 45 minutes to drive 5 miles. Chances are they had multiple things to do that day, Soul Cycle being one of them. In order to do the other things with dad the kid had to be willing to sit through the workout. Such a non issue.
This. I highly doubt that he brought the kid and nanny JUST to work out. I’m sure they had other places to go that day.
Damn. Some people on here must be having some major nose bleeds from their high horses. It is very possible that Becks went out simply with the intention of going to the gym, his kid said he wanted to come and they brought the nanny just in case the kid didn’t want to be there as long as his dad. From the comments I’m guessing no one was ever a kid and didn’t want to go somewhere with their parent(s). There are so many possibilities as to why they didn’t go somewhere else rather than stay in the car. In this case it definitely feels like people are just looking for something to be upset and judgy about.
Are you reading the comments on this post?
David is saying a nanny was present as a justification/excuse, but that doesn’t mean there really was one. Also, my experience with any car I’ve driven is that when the car is not being driven the AC does not maintain the car cool enough. If there was a nanny, why not leave the kid at home? He exercised very poor judgment.
Lol, now David is lying. Let’s ALL work very hard to make this an “issue” and let’s get really judgey and clutch our pearls…….
Any vehicle I’ve ever driven has been adequately able to cool, even in idle. In Florida.
He shouldn’t have done it. Period. I wont make excuses for David because he’s hot, lol. In my opinion, it’s not safe to leave your child alone in car for an hour. If he needed to work out, and the kid wanted to listen to music or play on his Ipad like others are saying, he could find a nice bench or chair INSIDE the gym, so his father could keep an eye on him. I could just be overthinking it because of my line of work. But I’m all about safety, and I think Beckham did the wrong thing.
Did you miss the part about the ADULT in the car?
Bernice: Yes, I did miss that part. Thanks for pointing it out. I still don’t understand why his son and the nanny couldn’t either go inside the gym or stay home. An hour is a long time to stay in the car.
Sure, paparazzi, let’s trivialize a tragic societal problem by comparing it to an able bodied 9 year old in an air conditioned car with an adult. If they had been, say, driving somewhere 2 hours away, he’d have been in the car for 2 hours in the air conditioning with an adult and no one would bat an eye. There are plenty of reasons he could be in that car. I doubt that one of them is that Beckham demanded they go to Soul Cycle with him and insisted they stay in the car. If the paparazzi want to play concerned citizen, why not go to every car park in the LA area and find the countless dogs left in cars and alert the authorities about them?
This is ridiculous. I leave my teenager in an air conditioned car while I run into stores because it’s better than listening to her bitch about having to go the store. No nanny, either.
This is not the same as leaving babies in a hot unventilated car until they die.
The kid is old enough to get out of the car if he got too hot. I want to know who leaves an SUV running for an hour? Does he think gas just exists in unlimited quantities? That we want to breath his SUV fumes? Entitled jerk.
Not an ideal situation but the kid is 9! We don’t know the conversation behind it (believe me if it was my 10 year old there’d be a conversation). I mean it depends on the kid but it doesn’t sound like a child endangerment situation to me.
As for why they had to wait for him to work out and not be somewhere else…. maybe they were going somewhere else afterwards.
One time, my dad left me in his car when he went to work out. The windows were down, and I had my phone.
It’s not like with a pet, where there’s no choice involved. I was 17. I could go inside if I wanted to. So could Cruz.
Perhaps the child chose to stay in the car. He may have had his I-Pad and was watching a movie or he may have had one of those hand held gaming systems. Either way as long as he was accompanied and air conditioned it is not my business. Clearly the Beckhams are caring parents and all it takes is a glance at them with their children. There is a ton of love there
Apparently the nanny wasn’t in the car the entire time.The young blonde lady is the nanny.Maybe she got out briefly to use the bathroom.So that’s why the photographer got on his case.
I don’t get what the big deal is. The kid is 9 years old. He could have left the car with his nanny if he wanted to. Maybe the kid wanted to stay in the car instead of being dropped off at Starbucks. I have been to that soul cycle mall and Sat in a car for over an hour talking to a friend. Plus it wasn’t that hot anyways in Brentwood last Saturday.
This is a hot topic right now — several articles detailing babies and animals dying in parked cars are circulating so I can see how the media would try to jump all over it and sensationalize it. But a nine year old of anyone’s would probably jump at the chance to stay in the car. Also, re: the note left on your windshield — that’s the society we live in now. People will film someone leaving a kid of a reasonable age or a pet in the car and then send it to the police before either a)waiting to see if the kid or animal is alright or b)engaging the person who did the leaving. As for me, I wouldn’t do it at all for many reasons, but that’s why we don’t have a dog. And I’m perfectly fine with handling a tantrum in a store, onlookers be darned.
Soul Cycle is a great place to meet the ladies! Hook up while trashing the environment- lovely example for the kiddo.
Why couldn’t he drop the nanny and the kid off at a local library instead of having the car idle that long?
It’s not eco friendly at all, so that’s very uncool but I don’t see the problem with adolescent kids who know not to open the doors staying in a locked, air conditioned car with their iPad while their parents run an errand.
Everyone is whining about the environment and while I agree, it’s wasteful, this a quick decision. It didn’t occur to him as this is something many people do and have done for years. He should be more aware of the pollution but he is not ending the world. It does not make him the worst person in the world, despite some of these comments.
It’s something to be aware of, but the fact is, when you’re running around and your kid is with you, saving the planet isn’t always on your mind.
I wonder if the car was even on. I can get cool (not freezing a/c cold, but cool enough) air to blow without the car idling. Just a drain on the battery. I don’t know the temp there, but maybe that was sufficient to keep them comfortable. My boys beg to stay in the car. No dice yet, but if hubby is with me then they will sit and wait. Movie going, books being read, air on . . . Dad even catches a quick cat nap. Works for us.
If the nanny was there, then he wasn’t unattended. The idling car is a bigger issue.
All the YMCAs i’ve been to or looked into have horrible hours for people who work during the days, a long and recent history of pool relatd pink eye (or shocking the pool with only 3 hours rest before use again), and generally poor care of equiptment. Also, very expensive compared to any other gym in the area that offers daycare.
And he’s off the hook because the AC was on
But
he’s back on the hook for pollution the environment for an hour.
Just dumb.
And BTW, if you left your dog in the car when the temp was in the 60s it means the sun shining through the windows made it a LOT hotter inside! Educate yourself on how much hotter the temp will be inside a car. YOU wouldn’t sit there.
Dude. The kid is 9. If there were problems he could get out of the car. It’s not we’re talking about an infant in a car seat in a hot car.
Cruz is 9 and not a teenager. We don’t know if his kid was using an iPad or insisted on staying in the car. What is clear is that David, a millionaire, did not take the time to provide appropriate accommodations for his son and nanny (if there was one). A lot of middle class parents do cut corners due to circumstances but he has more than enough resources. I don’t doubt he’s a great dad but this was stupid. Not to mention the waste of keeping a car idling for an hour.
I can see this from all angles: I’m thinking that the kid wanted to go to the gym with dad, but then he sees the cameras and paps and on second thought decides against getting out of the car because he just doesn’t want to be bothered by the apps and their cameras, so he stays in the car. David probably didn’t expect the paps to be posted by the gym that day but is used to them taking pics anyway and decides that he’s not going to let that deter him from a nice workout at the gym. After all, he got dressed and drove all the way to the gym, screw the pansies. He’s also probably thinking, my son doesn’t want to go in now, glad I bought the sitter along. The babysitter probably is afraid to leave the parking lot and take the kid somewhere else because it’s just a really hazardous situation for her to drive with all of the paparazzi surrounding the car and both all agree that they will just stay in the car with the cool air going, so for safety reasons + privacy reasons, everyone is satisfied. And the paparazzi are left thinking, wow dude, that’s just grossly negligent to leave your kid in the car considering all of the recent car deaths involving adolescents, just so you can get your daily work out. All the while having no clue that they were the real reason why the poor kid didn’t want to get out of the car, causing the babysitter to miss out on a really nice workout as well.
I doubt this story, just because they are so kidnap paranoid. Always kitting the place out and upping their security. Doesn’t make sense to leave a kid alone in a car then
Maybe he was being a little bugger ? Or was tired?
I bet their was a minder with him
did anyone see the nanny?
It would take a seasoned car thief two seconds to break into any vehicle. Period. My guess is that the Beckham-mobile is an attractive thief magnet. This kid is 9, not in his teens. Leaving him unattened in a vehicle where a variety of things can happen is uncool. My son wants to eat potato chips for breakfast, but just because he wants to do so doesn’t make it healthy and the proper decision. If he wants “down time” let him go to a quiet area in the gym (I’m sure this one has a lounge, just a hunch) or stay at home. Leaving kids in cars is not cool.
While probably not a safety issue, since the child was attended, it is still a weird thing to do. How boring for a kid. But maybe he had an ipad or something and didnt want to go anywhere…