I read two exceptionally disturbing articles today, that both to a degree revolve around our decreasing sense of self responsibility.
Article 1: (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30349192/detail.html)
5-Year-Old Seriously Injured After Swallowing Buckyballs
Mom Warns Parents: Powerful Magnets Not For Children
Buckyballs are powerful little magnets you can form into any shape.
But a Colorado mom learned the hard way the powerful magnets can also be life-threatening…
…"It could have been dire. Really dire," said Stephanie Thompson.
In September, her 5-year-old son, Finn, had emergency surgery. The scar on his stomach is healing, but for his mom, the emotional wound still fresh
Thompson said she popped into a Boulder toy and novelty store and instantly saw the display for Buckyballs.
"It's pretty front and center in the store. There's a video and a demo. I was watching the video for a while and thought I'd love to buy them and they said, 'OK, they are behind the counter.' I told them they are for my son who is 5 and they said, 'He'll love them,'"
Thompson said she never saw the warnings that say, "Keep away from all children." (JC note here: Which by the way are posted all over the package, and re-stated in the instructions pamphlet)
Long story short here… The kid thought the magnets (even after having played with them) were just like those bakers BB’s that are edible… so the kid… ate 4 of them! Erp Derp… The Boulder Soccer Mom went on to continue off the deep end…
Even after Finn's emergency surgery, his mom told Marchetta that one of his little friends got Buckballs as a birthday gift.
"What was your reaction?" asked Marchetta [local news reporter].
"I just started shaking and I went right up to his parents and said, 'I don't know if you know the story and I told them. They were shocked," said Thompson.
Since returning home from the hospital, Finn and his mom have posted an online video warning to other families. In it, Finn's message is clear…
…Now it's other kids his mom worries about.
"I don't think these should be sold in a toy store and I think that it should be on everyone's mind that these are extremely dangerous," said Thompson.
I feel for the kid, I do… it sucks bad enough to do something stupid, I know (and so do you yon gentle reader!) we’ve all been there! But more embarrassing is that the kid’s “I have to find someone else to blame” over zealous mother then uses his erp derp moment to serve him up as a poster child for irresponsibility! That’s right, Mom is pissed that there is anything out there that when used inappropriately might harm her precious!…
- “The WARNING SHOULD HAVE BEEN LARGER!!!”
- “It was the CLERK’s responsibility to throw himself on the Buckyballs thus preventing me from buying them for my apparently ball bearing deficient son!”
- “The display was too alluring, I couldn’t help myself! The Horror!!!”
So the cry goes out that someone ought to do something about it! It is not my job to be responsible! Which is how it all begins… the key in the lock of pandora’s nanny state box!
Don’t believe me… I’m sure someone, innocently enough said,
“Ya know, that Michelle Obama chick is right, our kids today are not getting the nutrition they need in their daily lunches. We should force the schools to serve properly balanced meals to all of our kids.”
You: “But what about those kids who bring their own lunch?”
Soccer Mom Commie SympathizerConcerned mother: “Well there should be an inspection of those lunches to be sure they have the proper Government Recommended Nutritional value.”You: “Like who is going to stoop so low to take on the job of ‘5 year olds lunch bag inspector?’ Talk about a crappy business card.”
Socialist ZealotConcerned Mother: “It’s a recession, I’m sure there are a number of people who couldn’t qualify for a TSA job who’d jump at the chance! Besides will be sure they are issued a badge.”You: “And if Barney finds little Becky’s lunch to be sub par?”
StalinistConcernedOccupy CafeteriaMom: “We’ll then force Becky to eat the Government mandated food, and bill the negligent dolt of a mom who is so stuck in the past that she even thought to prepare a homemade lunch in the first place!”You: “What kinda Government Mandated food we talking about here? Turkey and cheese sandwiches? Bananas? Apple juice?”
Nose Ringed LemmingConcerned Mom: “Of course not that clabber! We’re talking wholesome foods… y’know like Chicken Nugget parts and ketchup!”
Face-palm-smack!
Don’t believe me? Read for yourself… can’t make this stuff up… [Link]
State Inspectors Searching Children’s Lunch Boxes:
…A mother in Hoke County complains her daughter was forced to eat a school lunch because a government inspector determined her home-made lunch did not meet nutrition requirements. In fact, all of the students in the NC Pre-K program classroom at West Hoke Elementary School in Raeford had to accept a school lunch in addition to their lunches brought from home.
The mother, who doesn’t wish to be identified at this time, says she made her daughter a lunch that contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips. A state inspector assessing the pre-K program at the school said the girl also needed a vegetable, so the inspector ordered a full school lunch tray for her. While the four-year-old was still allowed to eat her home lunch, the girl was forced to take a helping of chicken nuggets, milk, a fruit and a vegetable to supplement her sack lunch.
The mother says the girl was so intimidated by the inspection process that she was too scared to eat all of her homemade lunch. The girl ate only the chicken nuggets provided to her by the school, so she still didn’t eat a vegetable.
My gawd! How did I ever live to be 30? I ate a Mom prepared bag lunch, every day of my school career! Consisting of 2 sandwiches (one meat, and one usually peanut butter an jelly) a sandwich bag of chips, a sandwich bag of carrots, a cookie or two, and a dime to buy a milk! (later became a quarter thanks to that Jimmy Carter Inflationary pinhead). I also played tag on monkeybars, on the asphalt playground, while Timmy ate bottle caps that Nathan dared him to… Not the candied bottle caps either!
Seriously people… stop! People (that includes you!) will do dumb stuff, sometimes that will be painful (funny how god created pain as nature’s teaching headsmack)… quit looking for someone to blame for your stupidity!!! Or, for that matter, the stupidity of the seed from your loins… never falls to far from the tree huh?
Give you a dollar to lick it....full tongue..
Posted by: Tim | February 27, 2012 at 06:21 PM
I can't get too mad at the kid for eating magnets. Yeah, it's stupid, but that's pretty much what kids are for. It's not as if kids eating things they shouldn't is some modern invention.
That mother should be trying to hide from the media in shame. Instead she's proudly telling everyone she was dumb enough to give small, shiny, dangerous objects to a 5 year old.
They probably will try to slap on some new warning labels for the parents. The problem is that people don't read anything. Same thing we see in software - you can put a big, red warning in front of someone that says "Spend your entire bank account on Tom Cruise blowup dolls?" and pretty much everyone will just click "OK". But what else can they do? You can't fix stupid. (or inattentive, or lazy, or the rest of it).
Wait... unless... I've got it. The solution! It's all so clear! The warning labels do not belong on the products, they belong on the PARENTS! After this incident that lady needs a mandatory trip to the tattoo parlor, where they'll imprint "I AM AN IDIOT. DO NOT GIVE ME DANGEROUS OBJECTS!" on her forehead. Then the clerk really will be able to prevent the idiocy!
Posted by: Brian R | February 14, 2012 at 08:11 PM