In the wake of Baby P and Shannon Matthews on our news, I remembered an incident when I was travelling that disturbed me so much I had to write it down immediately as it happened...

Writing from the next table...

One guy and two women speaking French to each other, and one of whom seems to be the partner of the man. Two pale and quiet children variously sit or wander nearby. One boy, the older of the two, starts crying quietly. The adults ignore him until he starts to moan that he is bored. The man tells him to be quiet, that we (the adults) are relaxing and drinking beer. He keeps on and says that he’s been bored all day and that he wants to play; he doesn’t want to watch them drink anymore.

The women both stay silent. The man keeps his voice very calm and tells the boy to be quiet once again. He carries on crying. It is pointed out that his brother isn’t crying, that there can’t be anything to cry about, as his brother isn’t crying. He offers up another desperate plea; he just wants to play, why can’t he play? He says he is asking quietly, not whining. His father, still with a very even voice, almost dangerously calm now, says that he should be quiet and stop crying, and think about the way he is acting, now and until they get back to the hotel; when they will have a little chat. He says that if he thinks about how he’s acting now, then he will understand why, “I do what I’m going to do at the hotel.”

The conversation between the adults resumes. There is talk of going to a bottle shop to get beer and going back to the hotel. The younger boy asks if he can play on the beach and if it safe because if he adults are at the hotel they wont be able to see them (the kids). The father says it will be fine, the beach is close, “you can explore a bit”. The older boy, red eyed, says that they can’t do that, it’s not safe. Father says when he was their age he was all over the place. He says this in a kind of disgusted way, directed towards he older boy.

The waitress comes out. She asks if the group is OK for drinks. The man says that they are going to have to leave because they have “pains of arses who want to do something else”. She leaves. The younger boy protests he isn’t a pain. No one says anything. The older boy whimpers behind his mother, his legs curled up on the chair.

For the first time, the mother looks at her son and says, repeating the man, that he should think about how he is acting. The man agrees and says he will understand when he gets to the hotel. The mother mumbles something about how the other woman doesn’t need to see this. The man assures both women that they wont ‘see’ anything. The boys remain silent.

The man gets up and says “who’s ready?” The little one jumps up and says “I am.” They all get to their feet. The older boy is silent. He is the last one up. They cross the street and he is the last one to climb into the 4x4; the father helps him in.

It is 15 minutes since they left. I wonder if they are back at their hotel now...