Irresponsible? That’s Fine!
This riled me up today: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/22/children.choking/index.html?hpt=C1
Mark today on your calendar: we are officially one step closer to being completely unaccountable for every single one of our actions. As I shared this link with a few of my friends, the first remark was something along the lines of “of course you can choke if you eat - everyone knows that!” Obviously. And although I think it is asinine to even have to tell that to someone, that is not what frustrates me either.
Requiring a food producer/manufacturer to put a warning label on food immediately makes the manufacturer liable. If your kid eats a Nathan’s hot dog and chokes on this hot dog, sure, you should have known it was a very feasible and tragic turn of events - logic tells you that. But what lies deeper is that Nathan’s had to tell you that. And if your child chokes and Nathan’s didn’t tell you, that’s their fault for not telling you something you should have already known. You can sue. We are taking away accountablity and handing out liability.
The fact of the matter is that coffee is hot, food can make you choke, you can get hurt in a car accident, your electrical outlet can shock you, if you drop something heavy on your foot, you might break your foot. However, in America, if no one told you, and you learned that lesson the hard way, you can place the blame on someone other than your own moronic self.
Requiring food to have warning labels is new fodder for lawyers. I’m sure they are drooling over this.
All of this unaccountability drives me crazy. I wish we could just go back to “survival of the fittest.” Turns out sometimes doing something really dumb and blaming someone else can really play in your favor - because laws are so skewed and this society refuses to use logic. What a bitch slap to Darwin… and unfortunately the rest of us as our costs for literally everything goes up. Don’t get me wrong - I understand the importance of safety and being aware when something is not safe and it is not obvious.
But come on… take some responsibility. Think! Don’t let your kid run down the hall with a pen in its mouth! Don’t put your coffee in between your legs when you’re driving. Don’t put the bag that your xbox live headset came in over your head! I think it is sad that manufacturers, companies, and designers now have to constantly consider people’s incompetence.
“For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs,”
The biggest difference is that food is designed to go in your mouth, toys are not.
If your child chokes on a raw carrot or a grape can you sue the farmer for negligence? I would like to see a drowning hazard warning printed on every bottle of water.
Benjamin, it’s good to have you back. i’ll try to begin to write more. however, your topic suggestions are always more than welcome.
I think the American Academy of Pediatrics needs to be warned that people might want to choke them.
Ben, you’re thinking small potatoes in suing the farmer. While I would sue Nathan’s if my child died from a hot dog, I would blame God for the faulty grape & carrot design. And I’m not limiting this class-action suit to just the Christian God. I’m going after all of the ones that claim some form of intelligent design along with an anti-abortion life is priceless philosophy. And then, I’ll be one of the other groups Lindsay complains about as I get fat from never working another day in my life just sitting on my couch eating man-made Cheeto’s which dissolve in my throat.
mmmm Cheeto’s