Why does the media feel the responsibility to provide daily reasons for mass hysteria? Everyone on the news is either "Devastated", "Outraged", or completely shocked to find out the nice man next door is a serial killer.
It seems to me that with the "shocking" and "horrifying" news about massive toy recalls, anchor men and women are slightly delighted underneath their masks of concern. What a tremendous opportunity to expose the incompetence of big business, question the wisdom of buying imported goods, and give parents yet another reason to lie awake worrying.
I'm neither shocked nor horrified that toys with lead paint have entered our market place. What does shock me is that parents are surprised that some of those toys have magnets in them. Have these parents never touched their children's toys? Of course they have magnets. That's what makes them cool and interesting. Don't all those toys with small parts and magnets also say, "Contains small parts. Not for children under 3 years of age"?
A little prudence can go a long way, but I think we're being fed so many lines about all the things we should fear that when something big comes along that we really SHOULD fear, we'll be too desensitized to react appropriately.
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