A Florida woman spotted a girl she recognized waiting for the school bus in the middle of heavy rain and decided to offer her a ride. The girl turned her down, choosing to stay outside and wait for the bus instead. While some viewers praised the girl’s caution and said they understood why she wouldn’t get into a stranger’s car, others couldn’t understand why she was left standing outside in weather that bad in the first place.
Posted to TikTok by @janet2you, the video shows an indistinct figure standing in a downpour while the Florida creator narrates from her car. She says she asked the girl, who rides the bus with her child, if she wanted to get in because of how hard it was raining or if she wanted a ride. The girl said no, and the creator says she understands why, saying, “I get it. You don’t want to get kidnapped.”
The heavy rain wasn’t just a passing shower, either. Parts of Florida were under a flood watch at the time as Hurricane Isaias moved west.
The Comments Were Split on What She Should Have Done
Imagining how they would have handled the situation was the first instinct for plenty of viewers. “I wouldn’t have gotten in either but I definitely would have walked right back home I’m not going,” one wrote. Another said they would have told the girl to get in and call her mom because they couldn’t leave her out there.
The Florida girl’s parents also drew plenty of criticism. One user said, “Parents who are ok w their kids just standing in this type of weather make me sickkkkk.” Someone else questioned where the parents were and why they thought it was okay to “allow her to wait outside like that…usually parents wait w/the kid till bus comes on bad weather days.” Another suggested her parents could be the reason she refused to seek shelter, arguing that some kids fear getting in trouble with their parents more than they fear the circumstances they’re in.
However, some viewers defended the way the girl’s parents were raising her. One commenter said she was being raised strictly for a good reason because there are too many “crazies” out there, adding that they understood her position.
An admittedly “unpopular opinion” also came up, with one viewer arguing that adults should “stop asking people’s children this. I get the sentiment but if they do it once with you and they’re safe it may make them let down their guard and next time someone with bad intentions may ask and they’ll be comfortable because it worked last time.”
Kids should absolutely be taught to be cautious around strangers, and the girl’s refusal showed that those lessons stuck. At the same time, several commenters had a fair point about the bigger issue. A child probably shouldn’t have been left standing outside in weather that severe in the first place.
