One day last week, I stopped at the elementary school to drop something off that one of my children had forgotten. A woman pulled her car in just ahead of me and got out with a small human who I assume was her son.

As she headed into the school, I got out of my car and noticed that her vehicle was still running. Hmmmm. No one else in the car. A comfortable 74 degrees outside, so she's probably not just letting the heater run. Not hot enough for the air conditioning -- and besides, the car windows were wide open. Maybe she was generously trying to air condition the entire outdoors?

I thought about reaching in and turning the engine off; if it had been her lights that were on, I would have switched those off. Turning the key, however, seemed too invasive. So I let the car run.

I went into the school and did my business. I exchanged pleasantries at the front desk. Had a cup of coffee. Checked through the lost and found. Held an impromptu parent-teacher conference. Sat in on a fourth-grade class and explained what a gerund is.

I finally left the building, and the woman's car was still parked in the same spot, still burning gas and spewing fumes into the air. I, too, fumed -- but I tried to fight off the raging Al Gore inside of me. Perhaps she had a good reason to leave the car running. Maybe she was robbing the school, collecting all the lunch money she could get her hands on and then making a run for it. Perhaps her car is like the van in "Little Miss Sunshine," and if she turns it off she's got to push it to get it going again.

More likely she's simply thoughtless.

Listen, I'm glad that she can afford to burn gas at $4.39 a gallon as an ostentatious display of her independent wealth. I know, the Hummer is probably in the shop. When she goes home I bet she's got the heat set at 88 and the air conditioning set at 56, so they can meet in the middle and provide a comfortable living temperature of 72 degrees.

Consumer and environmental groups urge people to turn off their cars if they're going to be idling for 10 seconds or more. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers did an experiment that showed that restarting a car uses only as much fuel as six seconds of idling. Maybe she doesn't know that.

I'm most concerned about what kind of example thoughtless idlers like this have on their young children. While we should be preaching conservation of precious natural resources and the importance of alternative energy sources, examples like this are going in the opposite direction. Might as well set burning drums of oil around the pool for the kid's birthday party. Maybe let the children blow some cool diesel-fuel bubbles. And don't forget to serve that giant bowl of high-octane punch.

This woman certainly isn't alone. In our region, there are legions of drivers who, for whatever reason, will leave their cars idling for hours at a time as they run errands. In one case, I saw a man leave his car running outside a convenience store -- with a baby strapped into the child seat -- while he popped in for some cigarettes and a scratch ticket. This violates so many parenting rules I can't even count ... I didn't report the incident to child services only because the dad at least had the common sense to plop a handgun on the child's lap for self-defense.

In my younger days, if I spotted an unattended car with the engine running, I might have slipped behind the wheel and parked on the other side of the block as a simple life lesson. As a father, however, I can't risk the grand-theft-auto charge. Instead, I urge all prospective car thieves -- those with the will to steal but not the knowledge to disable an anti-theft device or hot-wire a vehicle -- to set up shop at any neighborhood convenience store or the Post Office or school.

If you see a driver get out and leave the engine running for more than 10 seconds, feel free to abscond with the vehicle. Think of it as a public service. Please (gently) remove any infants before leaving. And make your getaway at the speed limit, to better conserve gasoline.

ouellette1918@gmail.com