That's a cute story but hardly one which would wind anyone up except for it's strawman implications. You seem to enjoy labelling anyone who has differing viewpoints of appropriate activities for children but just for reference a fatalist is actually someone who believes all events are predetermined by fate and therefore unalterable, which is consistent with the philosophy of those who think that when your times up it's up and there's little you can do about it. Your labelling of those exhibiting differing levels of safety consciousness as "fatalists" couldn't be more incorrect in this situation. These people you appear to want to rally against for the most part believe that accidents and deaths are not predetermined at all but can, in reality, be prevented with a little reasonable foresight.
Those who believe a child will die simply because he/she was allowed to sit on a tractor, running or not is not going to wind these people up? MMmmmm-Kay.
What shall I use, alarmists? Safety Police? BandAid Gestapo? You know what I meant. Don't shift the topic simply because I didn't one of those things high class edumacated people have. Whaddaya call it, a dickshawnairy?
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These people you appear to want to rally against for the most part believe that accidents and deaths are not predetermined at all but can, in reality, be prevented with a little reasonable foresight."
Great way to put it. But when you have people trying their hardest to make those of us who want their kids to enjoy the same things we do, WITHIN REASON, to make us look like bad parents by putting our offspring in harms way, it shows many are far too nearsighted to have the "required reasonable foresight."
The beautiful people these days don't seem to get it that not everyone believes it takes a village to raise a child. It does not. It takes a pair of dedicated parents with some good sense. Notice I say "good" sense, not "common" sense? If sense was "common", the nightly news would be far less entertaining.
The whole "we must protect others from themselves" attitude drives me nuts. Last year at this time I couldn't have bought my kid a dirtbike because the braindead protectionists had the "foresight" to ban EVERYTHING meant for a kid under twelve that contained trace amounts of lead. That even included ride on items such as bikes. I'm sorry, but if you're kid is chewing on a dirtbike tire stem, he's been into something worse than lead already......
Yeah, this is a rant, but it's too bad everyone has to be judgmental of how others bring up their children. The horse has been beat so badly at this point here on the Safety Forum that even Elmers doesn't want it any more. This bike thing is a great example. Numerous times it has been mentioned in this thread that "others don't see bikes". Yeah, no orifice leakage, they don't. BUT, some of us understand it and use the knowledge to ride/drive defensively. The "Boss" trusts my skills in that. The examples that were given are ALL preventable on the part of the rider, though they were created by the car drivers. If I didn't have that skill in my play/work toolbox, I'd kill at least one moron on the road weekly. Their fault again, but I prevent it from happening.
If I go through life thinking EVERYTHING is a risk to the safety of my child, I might as well have him euthanized to save everyone the pain. Kids drown, get electrocuted, pimped out by their moms and murdered by the scum who paid for it. They fall down stairs, are killed in car accidents, OD on dads oxycodone and drink toilet cleaner. They are kidnapped, they wander off and get lost. They hang themselves from curtain strings and fall through screens 9 stories to the sidewalk below. They get bounced off tractors to fall into the wood
chipper, then are backed over by a lawn mower. Are these caused by others? No, they are caused by inattentive parents. This, we are not.
Just because we chose different ways to get them off the couch does not make you a better, safer parent who has to judge us at every street light we stop at, nor does it make us irresponsible.
Thus, the reason I answered the original post the way I did (Mind your own business, in case you forgot). It'd make things so much easier!
****, I hope he has the safety on while he plays bad guy with my gun!
