"I bet he likes you."Dear man at the registration desk at Children's hospital, l'm positive that you didn't think that...
COLUMBUS, OH (WTXF) - Mother Merritt Smith shared a photo of her bruised and crying four-year-old daughter on Facebook with the intent of sending a powerful message.
Smith took her daughter to a Children's Hospital near Columbus, Ohio for stitches after she was hit by a boy at school.
During the visit, an employee at the hospital's registration desk made a comment that rubbed Smith the wrong way.
"'I bet he likes you,'" Smith wrote in her open letter to the hospital. "Dear man at the registration desk at Children's hospital, I'm positive that you didn't think that statement through. As soon as I heard it I knew that is where it begins."
Smith went on to say that she believes the comment sent the message that "hurting is flirting," and that this gives impressionable children the wrong message.
"At the desk you are in a position of influence, whether you realize it or not," she wrote. "You thought you were making the moment lighter. It is time to take responsibility for the message we as a society give our children."
Smith's open letter has gone viral on Facebook with over 30,000 shares. Many commenters on the letter agree with her, and have been wishing her daughter a speedy recovery.