November 28, 2001

12:13 PM

Boy Left At Bus Stop In Snow, Cold"Nicholas Degnan was left standing in snowy and cold weather about a quarter-mile from his house... Nicholas said that his legs were sore after the long walk in deep snow." Hard news, bland food. I love my state.
posted by mecawilson (39 comments total)

Bland food? How could anyone describe Lutefisk as bland? Foul, nasty, dangerous, and a perversion of codflesh perhaps, but never bland.
posted by MrBaliHai at 12:19 PM on November 28, 2001

The kid is 5 and was lost in cold weather. I've been lost before - it sucks. I've been lost before in cold weather - it double sucks. But the kid is 5.

Can you imagine the howls of outrage if he had gotten hurt? or died from exposure?

Having said that - why is this news? And what's with the sore legs quote?

This is one of the side effects of the 24 hour news culture - we've got to put something up, so let's make it all sound big, big, big!!
posted by Irontom at 12:30 PM on November 28, 2001

Big deal, when I was five I used to have to walk 10 miles to the school bus stop, in the snow, uphill both ways, etc, etc...
sorry, someone had to say it...
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 12:50 PM on November 28, 2001

watch the video, it had me busting up laughing. She counted how many feet were in a quarter mile, and the kid has to think about if he was lost for a few seconds. "uhhh. yeah?"
posted by atom128 at 12:53 PM on November 28, 2001

when i was 5 my parents in a last ditch attempt to get rid of me, covered me in IcyHot and left me stranded in the montains of Montana, over 5,000 miles away from home....

however by the time they had driven back home, i was at the front door asking when i was going to be fed.
posted by Satapher at 12:58 PM on November 28, 2001

Nicholas Degnan was left standing in snowy and cold weather about a quarter-mile from his house.

Dear God! It was both snowy and cold?!
posted by Shadowkeeper at 1:02 PM on November 28, 2001

"The child wandered off in the wrong direction. Tim Harmon found him on a curvy road without sidewalks."

(faints from shock)
posted by Hildago at 1:03 PM on November 28, 2001

I love my state too.

The kid should have taken the Lakewalk home. Duh.
posted by Dane at 1:04 PM on November 28, 2001

That's news?

Gimme a break. A quarter-mile is 250 yards. I can't believe they have the stops that close to eachother to begin with. It just goes to show how physically weak our society has become...

When I was 5, they could have dropped me off a mile from my house, and I could have figured out how to get back, easy.

Part of the problem is that no one wants to let their kids out of their back yard for fear they'd be kidnapped. I don't blame them. It's a different world now... but still, Minnesota has got to be safer than DC, even in the snow.
posted by zanpo at 1:04 PM on November 28, 2001

It's the parents' fault for sending him out of the house without his crosscountry skis. Or a snowmobile.
posted by groundhog at 1:05 PM on November 28, 2001

Dear me. Every few months, you'll get stories in the local press of kids left in the driving rain, usually because they'd lost their bus fares and the jobsworth drivers wouldn't take them to the right stop. And it's normally "the other side of town" rather than "two minutes' walk away".
posted by holgate at 1:11 PM on November 28, 2001

sue the weather.
posted by Satapher at 1:12 PM on November 28, 2001

bottom line: when you are five, lost is lost. whether you are 250 feet down the street or a few aisles over in the supermarket, being lost is terrifying. if you would just stop and remember what it was like to be a little kid, maybe you will feel something familiar. empathy with a child is not a lost art.

It just goes to show how physically weak our society has become...

forgive me, but i am quite sure that physical weakness is rather acceptible, perhaps even expected, in a five year old.
posted by grabbingsand at 1:12 PM on November 28, 2001

In the video, the reporter says Nicholas' house is "waaay down the road" and that the driver dropped him off in "the middle of nowhere."

If something is down the road, is it correct to say it is in the middle of nowhere?
posted by brittney at 1:19 PM on November 28, 2001

I have a four year old and I doubt he would be able to find his way back, dropped off from a vehicle on a corner near our house if it was out of his normal routine.

Kids are very good at what they learn, but until they get a bit older, they lack some of the deeper cognitive skills you'd need for something as 'simple' as this.

I hate to invoke Reality TV, but I'd compare this to anyone here being in the show 'Lost'.

Zampo; anyone who lets their 5 year old wander by themselves over 1/4 mile away from them without knowing that their child knows where they are going, and knowing that they are supervised in some way isn't quite with it.
posted by rich at 1:20 PM on November 28, 2001

when you are five, lost is lost.

Lost is lost, but is lost news?
posted by Hildago at 1:32 PM on November 28, 2001

Apparently Minnesota isn't the only place that employs school bus drivers with poor judgement skills.
posted by donnagirl at 1:32 PM on November 28, 2001

Gimme a break. A quarter-mile is 250 yards.

A quarter mile is 440 yards.
posted by anapestic at 1:34 PM on November 28, 2001

Way back when I was in school (in the burbs) we had to walk about a half mile to a "central location" where three busses picked up all the students in the area.

The busses came from different directions and went to the same school, and of course one of them had to pass my house to get to the stop. If we were late, the bus would pass us by get to the bus stop and leave without us.

The strangest part was no one asked why they did this.
posted by DBAPaul at 1:40 PM on November 28, 2001

"a curvy road without sidewalks."

I love the exurbs.
posted by panopticon at 1:50 PM on November 28, 2001

As a parent, I think it's newsworthy. Of course, I also think it's nutty to put a kid that young on a bus without an older sibling around.
posted by rcade at 2:06 PM on November 28, 2001

forgive me, but i am quite sure that physical weakness is rather acceptible, perhaps even expected, in a five year old.

This country is going soft... I expect five year olds to be capable of performing all manner of feats of strength. I mean, really. What's become of this nation? Whatever happened to our rugged frontier spirit? Look at Davy Crockett, for example. He killed him a B'ar when he was only three. Three! I doubt that most three year olds are capable of B'ar killing in this day and age. I blame the Internet.

On the other hand, that video is the funniest thing I've seen in some time.
posted by emptyage at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2001

Reads like an Onion story.

In other news, Lee Drury of Bumblefsck, Connecticut opened the door on Wednesday evening to call her cat Merlin in for the night. However, Merlin failed to appear.

'He's here every night, right on six, just like clockwork,' said Drury. 'But on Wednesday, he just never came.'

Sources close to the Druries say that Merlin has often been seen prowling neighbor's garages, looking for a warm car hood to sleep on.

'He's probably just got himself locked up somewhere. He'll be out in the morning,' said the source, who did not wish to be named. 'Damn stupid cat,' said the source's wife, Ms Edith Bright.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2001

"Nicholas said that his legs were sore after the long walk in deep snow."

Actually, Nicholas said that they "hurted bad."
posted by panopticon at 2:21 PM on November 28, 2001

Lassie:"bark-barkbark, barkkk-bark/bark, grrrrrr, bark-barkie/bark."("Mom, Nickey is in trouble")...
posted by Mack Twain at 2:30 PM on November 28, 2001

Hugo is in Anoka County, Minnesota. On Monday, the high was 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit and the average wind speed 13.30 mph. Not fit for man or beast.
posted by Carol Anne at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2001

1. Parents have a responsibility to ensure that their children have a basic understanding of the geography near their homes and other places of frequent activity (school, malls, etc.). The fact that this kid didn't know which direction to go, when less than a mile from home, reveals a fault of the parents. By age five, a kid should be able to make this kind of navigation, know his home phone number and address (and one parents' work location and number), know 911, and a few other basics.

2. Yes, the bus driver was stupid.

3. No, this is not a very news-worthy item.
posted by yesster at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2001

I live in the Twin Cities, and I'm just hoping this story doesn't lead the Channel 4 newscast tonight. If it's weather-related, has a cute kid, and they have great video of the kid & the lonely stretch of road, they won't be able to resist!

It's an unfortunate story, and would have me upset if I was a parent. But it's not really news.
posted by CosmicSlop at 2:57 PM on November 28, 2001

The story almost comes off as a veiled criticism of the public school system. Many parents already feel their kids won't get enough attention in public school and stories like this tend to fan the flames ...
posted by whatnot at 3:15 PM on November 28, 2001

obiwanwasabi -

Hey, here in Connecticut, lost cats are news. Whether it's because cats secretly control everything or our newspapers are crap, well, that's another question.
posted by kittyloop at 3:29 PM on November 28, 2001

> On Monday, the high was 35.6 degrees Fahrenheit...

Maybe it's my upstate New York upbringing talking, but come on! That's not even below freezing! Not fit for man or beast? Pshaw!
posted by bradlauster at 3:33 PM on November 28, 2001

HURTED BAD
posted by Satapher at 3:50 PM on November 28, 2001

bradlauster: I live in Seattle, where 35.6 degrees would paralyze the city.
posted by Carol Anne at 4:09 PM on November 28, 2001

Carol Anne is right, unfortunately. People were making a rush for bottled water and batteries last year when there was 3 inches of snow on the ground. It was the blizzard of '01.
posted by Hildago at 4:24 PM on November 28, 2001

I live in Sydney where 35.6F degrees would kill half the population.

Provided, of course, they were on the verge of death from unrelated circumstances.

Of course, being stuck in Denver, where it's a happy 25F today (that's -3C), I have decided the hotter the better.
posted by Neale at 4:36 PM on November 28, 2001

I live in Hong Kong where they wear scarves when it hits 60F.
posted by pooldemon at 1:03 AM on November 29, 2001

I lived in southern Florida: "70 degrees? That's positively arctic! Quick, grab a winter coat. Maybe they'll close school today..."
posted by owillis at 1:44 AM on November 29, 2001

Neale, tell us about things to do in Denver when you're cold.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 2:58 AM on November 29, 2001

wouldn't knee-deep snow have been pretty fun for a five-year old? and no parental supervision- a window if ever i have seen one.

i may be romanticising it though, being bred up in a sunburnt country with only Calvin and Hobbes, maybe a wee bit of narnia, as psychological influences *[o.O]*
posted by elphTeq at 3:04 AM on November 29, 2001