DEAR ABBY: I witnessed a situation in a popular restaurant last week. It left me wanting to share it, in order to protect other innocent children from possible danger.
A little girl got up from a table, where she was sitting with her mother and a sibling, and headed toward the "unisex" restroom, arriving there just ahead of me. She went in, the door closed, and then she came out. I asked her if she was through, and she told me that there was someone inside, but the door had been left unlocked. I stood with her outside the door, and a man walked out. I was shocked. The little girl then went inside, and I waited my turn.
The incident left me with questions: Did the man purposely leave the door unlocked? Did he expose himself to the little girl?
I'm upset with myself for not confronting the man, not informing the mother, not reporting it to the management. I know if someone had walked in on me, I would have gasped or shrieked or something. I was standing there and heard nothing.
The bottom line, Abby, is that parents need to take more responsibility for the welfare of their children. Children shouldn't be SENT to a public restroom -- they should be escorted. -- CONCERNED MOTHER IN MISSION VIEJO, CALIF.
DEAR CONCERNED: I commend you for writing an important letter. Responsible parents accompany children to the restroom -- even if it's a same-sex facility.