You corporate greedy bastards!
Everyone is well aware of the whole lead paint scare. This came about from conglomerate companies trying to gain as much profit as possible on sub standard over priced products that have been marketed to death to various children ranging in ages from 1 - 6 years. Thanks Mattel for making my life hell, making my children's grandparents feel like they have been poisoning their own grandchildren with kindness. Thank you for ruining my faith that Mattel was a stand up company that actually had some integrity.
So everyone gets in a big panic about the possibility that their child has been scarfing down lead paint. We go through the vast list of toys shown and discover we have a few of them. In fact some of them were given as birthday gifts to my son (from their grandparents). So we fill out all the appropriate forms and get a postage label and send it off to Mattel like good consumers are supposed to do. Well we wait and wait and wait and wait. Pretty close to 3 months my kid has not been able to play with his beloved Diego Mountain play set thing. I finally receive it back. Did I get a replacement? No. Did I get a small token toy to show that Mattel as a provider of quality educational type toys actually gives a shit about their consumers? No. All I got was a lousy letter in a box with the original toy stating that this toy wasn't affected by the lead paint recall. A fucking letter that states Mattel is returning my unaffected toy as it was received at no expense to me. What fucking asshole wrote that line? At no expense to me? Fucking right no expense to me I didn't start the fucking recall. How on God's green earth would I even begin to be responsible for any expenses incurred for some soulless corporation's mistake? How about a little compensation for the inconvenience? I'm not a hard guy to please, just a small token peace offering... a five dollar gift certificate... a few hot wheels cars. It wouldn't have to be big just a token action to say we're sorry we screwed up in our ever lasting quest to make more money and it skewed our judgement and it won't happen again.
Well you know what Mattel? Fuck You.
There will not be another Mattel made item allowed in this home as long as I draw breath. You fucked up and now I as a consumer am making my stand.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Childhood innocence
I was asked to go to the park today by my 6 year old. I honestly wasn't really in the mood but he asked and I have a problem denying him anything. I said I was going to sit on the bench and listen to some music. The park was empty which I thought was odd considering it was a beautiful day. He told me that he was really hoping that there would be some one at the park to play with, there was not one child to be seen. So he just looked at me and said well I guess I'll just play by myself. So I said OK I'll be here on the bench.
I watched him jump, climb, slide and swing. He dug, skipped and kicked. He hung, twisted and turned. While he was digging and letting the sand fall back to the earth I watched him and made a simple wish. A wish that childhood innocence could last longer than it does. Maybe I am naive and lost in a world of wishful thinking but I would love to see it stretch well in to late teens. Kids just seem to not be able to be kids anymore. I was robbed of my childhood at ten. My parents got a divorce and I had much more to deal with than regular kids at that time. Kids are exposed to so much at such a young age and there just seems to be some much more pushed on them. They are exposed to violence on television in cartoons, they are exposed to drugs in the media in the news, they are exposed to alternative life styles in day to day life. Sure sometimes it seems like they don't notice it but you know they pick up on everything. I remember the time I used the word "fuck"... he was a year and a half old and he repeated it for the next 30 minutes. They hear and see everything. I love both of my boys and I want them to experience things when they are ready not when some one else thinks they are ready.
I have neighbours that have older kids and their young boy has come home with all the wrong ideas about girls and he's only ten. Why does his friend who is only ten know all this? Where are his parents in this? Even if he has older brothers or sisters he shouldn't be exposed to this he should be still concerned with building the biggest ramp for his Hot Wheels cars or where to take GI Joe for his next adventure. Worry about what happens to the spiders in the garden when winter comes. He should be worrying about kid stuff.
I know the perception of how the family unit comes about is out of whack. My wife was a supply teacher for a period of time before she became a full time teacher. She took a long term assignment of a grade two class. There was a little girl in that class that asked if she was married, she said yes and showed her a picture of us on our wedding day. The little girl looked at the picture and asked to see a picture of her baby. My wife said she didn't have a baby. The little girl looked at her puzzled and said, no you should have a baby if you are married you have a baby before you get married. My wife taught that little girl in a Catholic school. A religion that is supposed to teach abstinence until marriage. I know that not everyone will abstain and God knows I didn't. The flesh is weak and God knows that. To skew a young girl's perception of the family unit like that though just seems so perverse. The morals and the values these days are out of line and I believe it is all in the effort to make more money and desire to fill ones life with things rather than good people, media moguls and conglomerates push the envelope to see what they can air on television or print in newspapers. News channels broadcast tragedy before they broadcast good. All in the effort to bump ratings or increase sales.
How do we stop this consumption of bad influences that is become our society? How do I prolong my boys innocence?
I watched him jump, climb, slide and swing. He dug, skipped and kicked. He hung, twisted and turned. While he was digging and letting the sand fall back to the earth I watched him and made a simple wish. A wish that childhood innocence could last longer than it does. Maybe I am naive and lost in a world of wishful thinking but I would love to see it stretch well in to late teens. Kids just seem to not be able to be kids anymore. I was robbed of my childhood at ten. My parents got a divorce and I had much more to deal with than regular kids at that time. Kids are exposed to so much at such a young age and there just seems to be some much more pushed on them. They are exposed to violence on television in cartoons, they are exposed to drugs in the media in the news, they are exposed to alternative life styles in day to day life. Sure sometimes it seems like they don't notice it but you know they pick up on everything. I remember the time I used the word "fuck"... he was a year and a half old and he repeated it for the next 30 minutes. They hear and see everything. I love both of my boys and I want them to experience things when they are ready not when some one else thinks they are ready.
I have neighbours that have older kids and their young boy has come home with all the wrong ideas about girls and he's only ten. Why does his friend who is only ten know all this? Where are his parents in this? Even if he has older brothers or sisters he shouldn't be exposed to this he should be still concerned with building the biggest ramp for his Hot Wheels cars or where to take GI Joe for his next adventure. Worry about what happens to the spiders in the garden when winter comes. He should be worrying about kid stuff.
I know the perception of how the family unit comes about is out of whack. My wife was a supply teacher for a period of time before she became a full time teacher. She took a long term assignment of a grade two class. There was a little girl in that class that asked if she was married, she said yes and showed her a picture of us on our wedding day. The little girl looked at the picture and asked to see a picture of her baby. My wife said she didn't have a baby. The little girl looked at her puzzled and said, no you should have a baby if you are married you have a baby before you get married. My wife taught that little girl in a Catholic school. A religion that is supposed to teach abstinence until marriage. I know that not everyone will abstain and God knows I didn't. The flesh is weak and God knows that. To skew a young girl's perception of the family unit like that though just seems so perverse. The morals and the values these days are out of line and I believe it is all in the effort to make more money and desire to fill ones life with things rather than good people, media moguls and conglomerates push the envelope to see what they can air on television or print in newspapers. News channels broadcast tragedy before they broadcast good. All in the effort to bump ratings or increase sales.
How do we stop this consumption of bad influences that is become our society? How do I prolong my boys innocence?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Well did you miss me?
So I didn't go anywhere I just didn't feel like sharing what was going on over the past little while. Some of you who actually read this and I have regular contact with know what the issues were but I am not going to rehash them out here. If you want/must know you can email me a 250 word essay why you need to know...
So what to rant about today... TV I hate TV sure there are some great shows on it I prefer the Discovery Channel, but my boys prefer Teletoon and Treehouse. Both of which I can't stand, especially Teletoon. Admittedly I have watched some shows on it such as Robot Chicken and Tripping the Rift just simply to amuse and titillate but those spurts are usually short lived. I have often wondered how people can get so into TV so that they must schedule their lives around it. I understand the infirm have a need for it but they don't have to watch it all the time they could pick up a book and read. Play a game or even create something artistic.
I think my biggest issue is I am being led when I watch TV. I am being pulled along to see someone's opinion on something or how someone sees the world. Sure there are some great stories out there and some wonderful documentaries. You still need to have a strong enough mind to make your own conclusions on the evidence submitted. I think that watching TV is breaking down that ability for people to think, to deduce and to conclude. For instance my parents watch TV nearly non stop when they are home. I can't have an intelligent conversation for more than 10 minutes with either of them as they don't have the attention span or they are lacking in the cognitive functions required to take part in the conversation.
Sadly my oldest loves TV, he would rather watch it than anything else. I often wonder if that is my fault. Do I spend too much time reading? Do I not encourage him enough to be able to play and use his imagination in that? I have been reading to him Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which he is enjoying. We don't read together every night but we try to make time for it 3-4 times a week. I am no story teller or a public reader by any stretch of the imagination but he enjoys it and so do I, so I suppose that is what matters.
I wonder about the societal implications that television will have on the children of today. I know there are affects already happening right now with the desire for instant gratification syndrome we have developed in the teens of today. Will it worsen with the 0-8 year olds of today? I think as parents we need to really monitor what our children do and have a greater impact in what they watch and when they can watch TV. I am not so against the idea of watching movies but the TV shows where they just seem so senseless.
I don't know maybe I am out of line in my thinking, maybe I expect too much from my children, from other people children...
So what to rant about today... TV I hate TV sure there are some great shows on it I prefer the Discovery Channel, but my boys prefer Teletoon and Treehouse. Both of which I can't stand, especially Teletoon. Admittedly I have watched some shows on it such as Robot Chicken and Tripping the Rift just simply to amuse and titillate but those spurts are usually short lived. I have often wondered how people can get so into TV so that they must schedule their lives around it. I understand the infirm have a need for it but they don't have to watch it all the time they could pick up a book and read. Play a game or even create something artistic.
I think my biggest issue is I am being led when I watch TV. I am being pulled along to see someone's opinion on something or how someone sees the world. Sure there are some great stories out there and some wonderful documentaries. You still need to have a strong enough mind to make your own conclusions on the evidence submitted. I think that watching TV is breaking down that ability for people to think, to deduce and to conclude. For instance my parents watch TV nearly non stop when they are home. I can't have an intelligent conversation for more than 10 minutes with either of them as they don't have the attention span or they are lacking in the cognitive functions required to take part in the conversation.
Sadly my oldest loves TV, he would rather watch it than anything else. I often wonder if that is my fault. Do I spend too much time reading? Do I not encourage him enough to be able to play and use his imagination in that? I have been reading to him Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which he is enjoying. We don't read together every night but we try to make time for it 3-4 times a week. I am no story teller or a public reader by any stretch of the imagination but he enjoys it and so do I, so I suppose that is what matters.
I wonder about the societal implications that television will have on the children of today. I know there are affects already happening right now with the desire for instant gratification syndrome we have developed in the teens of today. Will it worsen with the 0-8 year olds of today? I think as parents we need to really monitor what our children do and have a greater impact in what they watch and when they can watch TV. I am not so against the idea of watching movies but the TV shows where they just seem so senseless.
I don't know maybe I am out of line in my thinking, maybe I expect too much from my children, from other people children...
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