A little girl vs. a stolen motorcycle?

Not all the facts are in, but six-year-old Xitlali Molina was ejected from the SUV her father was driving when he was chasing another vehicle with a motorcycle that apparently had been stolen from him. Little Xitlali died soon after arriving at Natividad Medical Center. The accident closed the north bound lane of Highway 101 for a good chunk of the afternoon, so it was hard not to notice all the commotion. In case you missed it, here's the entire story.

It's always sad when children die, and in the case of Xitlali, not only is it sad, but it makes you wonder, was it worth it? My heart goes out to dad, Armando Molina, who not only has to deal with the immediate medical, financial and legal consequences, but who must also live with the guilt. Was it worth it, in the end, to try to recover that motorcycle? I'm sure you all know the answer.

There should be a lesson here for all of us: recklessness is never worth the risk. Reacting to anger isn't either. And when children are around we should be specially careful: they'll learn from our behavior and apply it to their lives -- if we're lucky. If we're not, they'll suffer the consequences of our poor choices. Is that what we really want?