Man Loses Son After Mistakenly Giving Him Alcoholic Lemonade

[kahskye]

If I wasn't familiar with the product and watching the game, I could see just grabbing the bottle and not knowing.

Exactly! My dh would not be familiar w/ this drink. I am because I love lemonade and had to try Mike's. I saw the parents on Fox news this morning and I do believe this was an honest mistake. What about the person that sold the drink to this dad? I know bartender's can be held accountable to serving minors. Maybe this person was too busy to notice the dad had a small boy w/ him. Makes me wonder just how many other minors get away w/ buying alcohol at a game.

 

[Mr. E]

CPS confuses me. Sometimes they leave a kid in a situation with abusive or neglectful parents, even to the point where the child dies; they "lose" kids in their care, like that little girl in Florida several years ago; but then they remove a kid from his home over something as easily explained and understandable as this.

Remember when a baby "accidentally" drank alcohol from a bottle a while back? What did CPS do then? That seemed more suspicious than this. I mean, why would there be alcohol in a bottle, anyway?

 

[XcomSquaddie]

Pittsburgh PA is spending over $425 million on an underground tunnel that will cross beneath one river and link downtown to the casino-Heinz field area.

Why in God's name are they doing this? Imagine what $425 million could do for the joke that is CPS.

But no, instead we're going to waste it on some bulls**t tunnel project that we don't need or want.

 

[tiredblondy]

It should be law ALCOHOLIC in BIG letters outside every container with alcohol. i wouldn't mind if they put, 'Alcohol can kill' on there too. just like they have to issue a warning on packets of cigarettes. :furious:

:clap: Amen Floh, I promise on the bottles I saw years ago the word "alcoholic" was written in small red letters on the label. Not even close to the name.

 

[ttrachel04]

I had no idea either. Who would put liquor in lemonade anyway!?!?!

actually ... its really good.

 

[FLMom]

I think accidents happen and CPS went way overboard on this one. If the kid had consumed say. . . four of them. . . then there is an issue. I don't think that either the father or the son meant to do it.

Guess I should have been thrown in jail too. Kids like pretty bottles and sometimes you just aren't fast enough. Then there's the time that my oldest DD took a swig out of my Big Gulp and got a good swallow of Captain Morgan's and Cherry Coke. They're teens now, but maybe I should go turn myself in down at the sheriff's department this afternoon. That would make about as much sense as this does.

 

[southcitymom]

CPS confuses me. Sometimes they leave a kid in a situation with abusive or neglectful parents, even to the point where the child dies; they "lose" kids in their care, like that little girl in Florida several years ago; but then they remove a kid from his home over something as easily explained and understandable as this.

Remember when a baby "accidentally" drank alcohol from a bottle a while back? What did CPS do then? That seemed more suspicious than this. I mean, why would there be alcohol in a bottle, anyway?

Me too, Mr. E. I think it boils down to the fact that CPS is composed of human beings and, as we well know, humans beings are impossible. And unpredictable.

 

[SLP]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/COL04/804280375

This article gives the reactions of people on the scene and a more in depth look at the story. I think the saddest part is that if this family did not have so many connections their son would still be in foster care.

 

[southcitymom]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/COL04/804280375

This article gives the reactions of people on the scene and a more in depth look at the story. I think the saddest part is that if this family did not have so many connections their son would still be in foster care.

I am rarely impressed with stupidity, but this story takes the cake.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Its named Mike's Hard Lemonade. Can we say "Hello?" :bang:

I am not a drinker and made the exact same mistake last year at a family barbecue we attended. I handed my son one. He told me it tasted funny...so I tasted it...then read the bottle.

I too was SHOCKED!

 

[JanetElaine]

Our DD is 9 and does not drink pop (because she doesn't like it). After DH chugged down his third root beer of the afternoon the other week, then hopped in his truck to go somewhere, she quietly came up to me and asked if root beer was pop or beer. She wasn't sure. Now if they can put 'beer' on a soft drink and 'lemonade' on an alcoholic beverage, maybe it's safe to say that confusion at some point might arise?

 

[JDB]

There is no way I will even start thinking this guy did not know Mikes has Booze in it.If I recall correctly on the label it says something like contains ?% of alchol

 

[southcitymom]

There is no way I will even start thinking this guy did not know Mikes has Booze in it.If I recall correctly on the label it says something like contains ?% of alchol

Why - so many people here have said they had no idea? This guy seems like a totally straight arrow to me.

 

[less0305]

If I wasn't familiar with the product and watching the game, I could see just grabbing the bottle and not knowing.

Me too. My friend's mother has been loving those Bartles & James drinks - and she had NO idea they had alcohol in them. She never dreamed it. Had been drinking them for months before someone said something about alcohol and she had a stroke!!!! Because she doesn't drink.... up until then anyway. She said, "No wonder I was sleeping so good lately." LOL. Honestly - I can see where the mistake could be made.

 

[Paladin]

Why - so many people here have said they had no idea? This guy seems like a totally straight arrow to me.

Some people don't ever give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

If I am ever on trial for anything and I am selecting my jury, the first question I want my lawyer to ask them is if they are a member of Websleuths, because if you are, then I'm not choosing you. I'll be judged guilty and thrown in the slammer for the rest of my life for breaking some stupid blue law or scoff law.

 

[Linda7NJ]

There is no way I will even start thinking this guy did not know Mikes has Booze in it.If I recall correctly on the label it says something like contains ?% of alcohol

I don't drink and haven't been in a liquor store in over 25 years. I have no idea of the new crap they have out there now. I've never seen a commercial for it....so how was I supposed to know???

 

[pixies]

Wait...you mean a boyfriend of the mother can hit, smack, burn, rape and murder a child and thats OK! The mother can still keep the other abused kids, CPS is totally Ok with that... BUT a man who accidently gives his child alcohol (obviously a small amount due to not finding any in the childs system) this child is taken away from him for 2 days!!!!
WTH!

CPS is a joke. This guy did not mean to do this obviously. Protect children who needs the protection and leave the rest of us alone!

 

[kahskye]

Why wasn't the vender ever questioned for serving the man TWO alcoholic drinks???

 

[southcitymom]

Some people don't ever give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

If I am ever on trial for anything and I am selecting my jury, the first question I want my lawyer to ask them is if they are a member of Websleuths, because if you are, then I'm not choosing you. I'll be judged guilty and thrown in the slammer for the rest of my life for breaking some stupid blue law or scoff law.

Oh God, Paladin - I LOVE this post. The jury analogy is priceless and on point!

 

[Lyn1001]

Just like in every field, there are good CPS workers and bad ones. It just happens that in that field, the bad ones can end up costing a child their life. The bad ones also happen to be the only ones who end up in the news. There are a lot of good ones out there as well. I agree with who ever it was that said CPS was in a no win situation. They hear excuses about not knowing or not realizing all the time. If they believed everyone of those excuses, a lot of kids would probably get hurt! I agree it was an over reaction, but put yourself in the position of the person investigating. Also, in order for a child to be removed, the court has to grant permission. The CPS worker presents what they have, state they would like to remove the child(ren) and the court agrees or disagrees.
Yes, I think the father made an honest mistake, but I also believe people come down way too hard on CPS in general. Don't sterotype all workers as being bad, and try to put yourself in the position of hearing all the excuses and having to make split second decisions all the time, knowing that if you're wrong a child could die and/or the media will be all over you.