Hard To Take
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 11:44PM 
I feel pretty badly for Christopher Ratte and his seven-year-old son, Leo, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were having a great father-son outing the other day at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. Rushed as they arrived at the ballpark and in a hurry to find their seats, dad and junior made a quick stop at a concession stand where Christopher bought Leo a refreshing bottled lemonade.
I think the authorities at the ballpark in Detroit were right to step in when they saw a seven-year-old drinking alcohol throughout the game.
Fast forward a few hours to the top of the ninth inning. Father and son had snacked throughout the game on the usual -- hot dogs, peanuts -- and Leo had managed to finish about two-thirds of his lemonade. That's when a security guard approached the pair and asked Christopher if he had provided the beverage for Leo. "Of course," Mr. Ratte responded. At that point they took Leo away from his dad, trundled the terrified boy into an ambulance, transported him to a local hospital's emergency room, and removed him from his parents' custody for at least two days.
See, his father had unwittingly given Leo an alcoholic beverage: specifically, Mike's Hard Lemonade. It happened to be a product he had never heard of, much less purchased, before that day at the ballpark.
I had to chuckle when I saw this news report, and not because I'm mean or anything. As I already said, I feel terrible for Mr. Ratte (who I'm convinced made an honest mistake).
What I found amusing was that I know someone -- well over the legal age to consume alcohol but a teetotaler by conviction -- who made a similar mistake a few years ago on a hot summer day. He was at a friend's house and reached into the fridge, grabbed a lemonade, and chugged it down. He said it didn't taste out of the ordinary, but for some reason after he'd drained the bottle, he looked more closely at the label and realized what he'd done. It was a bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonade ... a product he'd never heard of until that day, much less bought, been offered, or imbibed. He was embarrassed because, like I said, he has a religious conviction about abstaining from alcohol. We, his friends, got a good laugh out of it and still tease him about it.
As for Mr. and Mrs. Ratte, the understandably heartbroken, frightened, and perplexed parents of Leo, social workers at the hospital said that while they believed Leo had ingested the alcohol by mistake, they still had to do their job and retain custody of him until a more thorough investigation could be carried out.
Ostensibly this would be to satisfy themselves that Leo's father did not take him to the Tigers game to get him drunk in front of thousands of people, make him sick, and possibly kill him.
As Leo's father himself pointed out in a news interview, if he was going to feed alcoholic beverages to his seven-year-old son on purpose, why would he do it over a period of several hours while sitting in a packed stadium?
Do me a favor. The next time you go out for dinner at a restaurant where alcohol is served, look around. Chances are you'll see at least one table where there are a set of what appear to be parents in the company of what appear to be their own small children. They'll all be eating a meal, and both parents will be drinking beer or wine. Unless you happen to be in Beverly Hills or Manhattan, you cannot believe they have a chauffeur waiting outside to drive them home or that they plan to call a taxi. One of those parents is going to get in the car after drinking and do the driving.
Remember to buckle those kiddies snugly in their carseats!
Don't get me wrong; I think the authorities at the ballpark in Detroit were right to step in when they saw a seven-year-old drinking alcohol throughout the game. But when the powers-that-be realized a terrible mistake had been made and that the whole thing was unintentional, once they confirmed the child had not been adversely affected I think they should have let him go home with his mom and dad. No harm, no foul. Truly. People mess up sometimes; dire consequences do not always ensue.
But what about parents who knowingly drink and drive ... and do so with small children in the car? Even if they say they are not impaired after one or two beers or a glass of wine, studies show that after consuming only one drink a person's capacity to make split-second decisions can be diminished. How much (or how little) impairment is "safe" when it comes to your own children? If someone had a teensy drink and wanted to drive my granddaughters around the corner, I'm pretty sure I'd do my impersonation of godzilla on the hood of their car. Complete with chest-beating and a bloodcurdling rebel yell for added drama.
And I'd tell them, hey ... when life hands you lemons, don't take it so hard.
Reader Comments (9)
Wow I hadn't heard about this on the news and I live 25 miles north of Ann Arbor. I've never heard of this lemonade, wonder how long it's been around? I could easily see myself making the same mistake your friend did had I not read your blog. Removing the child from his parents home for 2 days seems a bit excessive to me. I agree with you, this situation could have been handled better.
The lemonade really doesn't look like anything alcoholic. I wonder if they don't bottle it that way on purpose! It just looks like a refreshing drink, almost like gatorade. I guess some could argue that the word "hard" (as opposed to "soft") gives it away, but it really doesn't unless you're already thinking that way. At any rate I hope Leo is safely back with his folks.
It's been around a while. I haven't had it in a few years, but we used to get it a lot after I got out of high school. It's pretty good stuff, a variety of flavors too.
But, yeah at first glance... without thoroughly inspecting the label, the word "Hard" would be your only indication.
Poor dad. He must feel like dirt.
They've had it around here for awhile. The only ways I suspected it was "hard" was that the bottle is beer-bottle-looking and the word "hard" sorta gave it away. I saw that story on FOX and also their interview thereon and thought it was so unfortunate.
Dontcha just gotta wonder what demons live in a head like that? And what on earth happened in that man's life to make him into whatever he is? I can't imagine her living that long in those conditions. And okay let's say the mother really did think the daughter left to join a cult (maybe she would have been better off! and I think cults are horrendous!) wouldn't she at least have called the cops and wouldn't the cops have at least searched their home just because sometimes people are evil? Sheesh.
I think that product needs to be re-labeled or something! I'll bet there are lots of stories like this one!
RE: Fritzl ... bad dude. Someone somewhere along the line had to suspect something but did not act on it. I hope Elisabeth can have a normal life again, and I hope she never has to see him again except for when they send him away.
I completely agree with your last paragraph (not about the Godzilla part, but about the parents and drinking). I think Mike's Lemonade needs to be taken to task for a confusing label. In fact, I won't be surprised if Leo's parents are talking to a lawyers as I write!
Great post! I've never had Mike's Hard Lemonade; I'm surprised from the description that it doesn't seem to taste "hard"?
Poor kid! Poor dad!
But Keli, you haven't even seen me do Godzilla! LOL! And yes ... I've no doubt Leo and the folks have lawyered up by now.
JD ... I guess it tastes soft but packs a punch! I don't intend to try it but since You Do Things so I don't have to ... eh? What do you say, luv?