another bloody yank

Yes there are a few things about the US I wish weren't the way they are.

But there's just one that burned me up today. My son came home from school last night with a something some other kid had given him. No, it wasn't head lice.

It was a promotional item for "Trix" cereal featuring the Trix Rabbit. It was a mask in the shape of an ice hockey goalie's helmet made of thin cardboard (about the same as a greeting card) that folded flat but when opened was big enough for a kid to wear like an actual goalie's mask. It had holes for the eyes and mouth etc...

The thing that pissed me off was that printed on the side of it in large type was a disclaimer stating: Warning! This mask is not intended to be used as a protective device!

It really makes me sad for a number of reasons. One, it really messed up the asthetics of the mask. Two, that someone out there is stupid enough to try and use this paper mask for protection, and three that if some moron did use it for protection and got hurt there would be a lawyer waiting next to the hospital bed ready to sue to get the "victim" the "settlement they deserve". Hence the need for the disclaimer in the first place.


I guess it ties in with my hatred of the modern culture of liability and litigiousness taking the place of common sense and personal responsibility.

MsElui

Im so with you on this one. Its sad that they have to put such stupidly obvious disclaimers on stuff so some dimwit cant then sue them later if they do something they shouldnt have done.


Its like the packet of almonds with the 'this product contains nuts' written on the back.

tonrob

I think America caters pretty well to the hard of thinking and those who lack responsibility to take the most simple care of themselves.

What gets on my proverbials is the deployment of the local town police force for the most mundane of tasks, all presumably in the name of public safety. Eevery time there is so much as a truck at the side of the road (off the carriageway) with some guy up a ladder fixing a telegraph pole there's a police car in attendence throughout. The people who would crash into the truck would surely fail to notice the police car too and plough into that instead....?

There's a local fair on the town green, which is surrounded by policemen overseeing the nearby road crossings - and these roads are practically deserted! (It's a very quiet town). Do they think there will be some kind of bloodbath if they're not there??? They don't even trust the good townsfolk to complete the simply task of crossing the street to get to the other side.

My tax dollars hard at work being spent on doughnuts and overtime....:curse:

Dan725

I agree. I'd go so far as to say it actually even leads to a break down of values in society. A good example to cite here I think is the Hit and Run drivers - the frequency of which is truly scary here compared to other first world countries. The reason why the rate is so high? The possiblility of being underinsured (which you don't have in most European Countries as you don't specifiy "up to" on your insurance - the limit being the sky) and getting taken to the cleaners.

another bloody yank

I agree, but it didn't use to be that way and I believe it will weaken and has weakened us as a people.



The way I look at it, If they've got nothing more important going on at the time, why not? Better than being parked behind a grocery store taking a nap.

Dan725

IMO, I really don't mind the visible Police presence here. Especially when you compare it to the way the UK is going.....you rarely ever see the Police these days; replaced by cameras for the most part, with the emphasis on "Quick Response" (aka Cost Cutting).

cindyabs

I would have said the same without a second thought, but just Wed morning on I-95, a mile from where we exit, there was a traffic jam and we were right into a portable parking lot. Finally make it 3/4 of a mile up the road and here's a car over in the median with a door missing, an 18 wheeler pulled over with damage to his right front and 9 cruisers and a body under a sheet on the grass. Turns out that the unfortunate person had come to pick up the car (he was a local car dealer) and while he was bending over looking in the backseat of the car, along comes the 18 wheeler who veers off the road and plows into him.............

bevinva

If this also applies to your opinion of my daughter I'm sorry you feel that way.

RoadWarriorFromLP

Personally, I would be more bothered by the fact that crappy food is being aggressively marketed to kids.

A serving of this stuff is about 40% sugar and less than 3% fiber: http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcalorie...B.aspx?id=1689 It's no surprise that Americans are getting fatter by the day -- we have been trained from an early age to believe that this refuse is actually edible.

another bloody yank

Your daughter wasn't wearing a paper helmet.

Leslie

OMG!!! I'm so glad I read this thread when I did. The timing was perfect - I took a small break from fashioning my new Trix Rabbit face mask and looking forward to bashing my head against the concrete and sticking my face into oncoming traffic. All I can say is a big fat PHEW!

another bloody yank

That would bother me, if my kids picked out their own cereal.

Leslie

OiOi

Ahh let them pick out their own cereal, it is Friday after all Why don't you go and pick yourself out a nice beer, it sounds like you need one

tonrob

I'm kind of thinking that our little town perhaps doesn't need to pay for quite as many police officers....