Probability should rule, not possibility

In your editorial "Common sense..." on March 14, you stated, "This is a case where everyone made bad decisions." (The story of a Tinley Park mother charged with child endangerment after leaving her 2-year-old daughter in her locked car for a few minutes.)

In making this statement, you included Treffly Coyne, the child's mother who was the subject of the furor.

By including her, you made a very common mistake. You mistook possibility for probability.

Sure, someone could have broken the window and stolen the car, even though it was poor weather and there was a security officer right there. It was possible.

But in Ms. Coyne's estimate of the situation, this event was not very probable. It's hard to convincingly say she was wrong.

If we lived our lives fretting over every potential threat without applying the filter of our experience and common sense, we'd never get out of bed. You were wrong to include Ms. Coyne in your sweeping statement about bad decisions.

Harv Stewart

Palatine