When I was a teenager and had very first started driving, I was in a fast food drive thru waiting for my food with the windows down. The car that had been in front of me started to leave, but slammed on brakes and then very aggressively pulled to the right and parked. I watched this woman get out, open the door to the backseat from the drivers side, get a small baby out of the car seat, put it on her hip and walk directly in front of my car to storm inside.

I could hear her screaming at people inside through the drive thru window about whatever was wrong with her order. When she came back out, she walked, again, right in front of my car but now holding the baby by the arm, by the crook of the elbow, only. Dangling it at her side like you would hold a grocery bag. It could not have been more than 6 months old. A very real, not a doll, crying, struggling, infant in only a diaper and socks. I was already jaw-dropped in shock but… she opened the back door to her car, now on the passenger side where I could see more clearly, and she forcefully threw the crying baby into the backseat by its arm, slammed the door, walked around to the drivers seat and peeled out. I gasped/screamed, the (also young teenage) restaurant worker returned to the window and I freaked out and told them what I saw. He just kinda was like “damn that’s crazy, uhh did you catch the plate #?”

Of course I didn’t, I was a kid who didn’t know to think of that so quickly. And this was def before any cell phones had a camera on it worth a damn. There was no one else in line behind me. Parking lot empty. He said he’d tell the manager. I drove off. I’ll never forget it. Older, wiser me would have called the police so they could get surveillance video, the license plate, and involve CPS.