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    rslwnMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:36pm

    Goddamnit, mommy feels. Can’t believe his parents drove that far away from him to “teach him a lesson”, but at least they felt reeeeal bad about it for a while.

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      rockoutwithyourbockoutrslwn
      6/03/16 2:41pm

      We still threaten to leave ungreatful pre-teens on the side of the road mostly to make fun of them (it is often over the unfortunate music choices my husband and I make, natch) but we would never have ever DONE IT. And we usually just say things like, “Welp, it’s gonna be a long walk in the rain but we could drop you here.” They just roll their eyes because they know we won’t do it and then they get sullen and stop whining because we are so embarrassing. My parents did the same thing. I never anticipated they would actually DO IT.

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      I'm Fart and I'm Smunnyrockoutwithyourbockout
      6/03/16 2:44pm

      I’m an adult and my mom still threatens to make me walk the rest of the way to wherever if I’m being bitchy in the car with her. But she never actually did.

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    FieryAntidoteMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:55pm

    Just to put this in perspective, 7 year olds in Japan are expected to walk to school or the shops by themselves and even take the subway in Tokyo. This is extreme, but parenting norms are totally different from the U.S. and Europe or Canada.

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      ThrillhoFieryAntidote
      6/03/16 3:15pm

      Very true. Those kids are super independent. But of the Japanese friends I’ve had, I’d say at least half of them had bad parents. Like picking them up and throwing them onto a fence bad. Parenting is a completely different game there.

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      Ms.ChanandlerBongFieryAntidote
      6/03/16 3:26pm

      Yes! I saw so many kids by themselves when I went in April. To be honest, it’s kind of awesome they CAN do that, you know? Like people trust society not to kill/kidnap the children.

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    Mrs. BeetonMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:33pm

    I bet he never throws rocks at cars again.

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      JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereMrs. Beeton
      6/03/16 2:35pm

      Parent of a 7 y/o boy here. Still snickered at this.

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      Pleasure of Ruins: Bitch of the MomentMrs. Beeton
      6/03/16 2:36pm

      Maybe at mom or dad’s?

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:39pm

    “I’m full of gratitude. From now on, I’m going to take better care of him as he grows up,” Yamato’s father, Takayuki Tanooka, 44, said in comments on NHK, the national broadcaster

    Your “Father of the Year Trophy” is on the way buddy! Good job!

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      EmRyJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/03/16 3:40pm

      Love this!

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      ShokesnowhasaprofilepictureJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      6/03/16 11:14pm

      I think this is poor translation, it makes him around like he’s half hearted but I’ve been watching the original interviews and he really seems ashamed and regretful.

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    Burnerdette ChiracMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:36pm

    In my day your parents would only pretend to drive away.

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      sockerkakaBurnerdette Chirac
      6/03/16 2:41pm

      Yes - or drive around the next immediate corner or turn in the road and wait for you to come running after the car, wailing.

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      BettyCrockerPunkRockerBurnerdette Chirac
      6/03/16 3:01pm

      Just kind of start slow driving, just enough for the kid to believe it and cry and apologize and promise they’ll be good.

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    Ms.ChanandlerBongMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 3:46pm

    I mean, I have no kids, but I took care of my youngest 2 brothers all the time. Kids can be shit. And I just visited Japan. Not saying this is okay but Japan is very, very safe. Case in point, read The People Who Eat Darkness. It illustrates just how low the crime rate is and how the police are not even equipped to deal with it.

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      Setzer777Ms.ChanandlerBong
      6/03/16 3:54pm

      What about Japanese bears?

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      LouderThanTeslasMs.ChanandlerBong
      6/03/16 3:55pm

      The problem isn’t the crime. The problem is the wilderness and bears. Japan may have low crime, but I think the bears are probably just as dangerous as anywhere else.

      Plus, as can be seen in this example, a 7 year old left by the side of the road doesn’t know you are coming back, and doesn’t therefore know to stay where you left him. I mean, if mommy and daddy left, I better start walking, right?

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    randilynisFINDILYNMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 3:02pm

    I really thought he got eaten by a bear.

    Everything else aside this is a major relief (obviously).

    I wonder at that age it I would have wandered off or just stayed where my awful, horrible, mean parents had left me.

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      SquigglesrandilynisFINDILYN
      6/03/16 6:55pm

      I would have left just to fuck with them because I’m horrible and vindictive. But only for maybe 5 minutes because I’m also a chicken shit empath.

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      randilynisFINDILYNSquiggles
      6/03/16 6:57pm

      Same

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    Socks Are My Favorite ClothesMadeleine Davies
    6/03/16 2:37pm
    “I’m full of gratitude. From now on, I’m going to take better care of him as he grows up,” Yamato’s father, Takayuki Tanooka, 44, said in comments on NHK, the national broadcaster.
    GIF
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      SquigglesMadeleine Davies
      6/03/16 6:50pm

      My Side of the Mountain was MY SHIT. I’ve reread it and of course its a totally implausible scenario but I would give my right arm to have a hollowed out tree and a hawk friend.

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        InquartataSquiggles
        6/03/16 11:05pm

        That and The Hatchet were two of my favorites.

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        goddessoftransitorySquiggles
        6/03/16 11:37pm

        Can you even imagine your dad signing off on your running away alone for months on end as “something a boy’s gotta do?” I can’t even begin to list the government agencies that would get involved—the guy would probably end up in some offshore supermax prison.

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      bagoflettersMadeleine Davies
      6/03/16 2:45pm

      There are very few things that I would say constitute a bad idea from every angle but “leave child on the side of the road” is definitely one. I understand parents are under every microscope possible in terms of parenting but I think we can all universally agree to not do this.

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        Marlene Freaktrickbagofletters
        6/03/16 9:52pm

        Especially in the middle of the fucking woods.

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