Zhu Zhu pet gets reprieve, safe after all

I was relieved to hear today that the Zhu Zhu pet had gotten a clean bill of health from the government. The Zhu Zhu pet was on its way to a civil lethal injection after a do-gooder group discovered it had trace amounts of a metal that was supposedly going to hurt kids.

(Update: I received a comment to this story that included a website that the poster indicated was a contest for a free Zhu Zhu pet. Before posting that comment - and later rejecting the comment - I went to the website and it seemed a little odd to me so I did not post the comment on the concern that the website might not be safe for computer users. It is only about the fifth time I have had to reject a comment)

But the government (nice to know they have time for this) stepped in and said the Zhu Zhu pet met all government standards and was safe. The do-gooders now admit they used the wrong test.

My wife and I were just talking about how toy safety testing was done when we were kids. Well, actually toy safety testing wasn't done, we just had parents who decided whether we should, or should not have a certain toy.

I begged and pleaded for a b-b gun, but like the famous movie was told I couldn't have it because I could lose an eye. Parents were pretty good back then at deciding what toys were safe and which weren't.

Today, I guess we need the government to decide whether toys are good or bad.

It's a miracle I'm still alive based on what is considered toxic and dangerous today. As a kid my friends and I used to look for old or discarded mercury thermometers to break open so we could play with the mercury.

We used to shine up our dimes with the stuff using our bare hands. We would break up the beads of mercury and then put it all together again. Do that today and they'll clear your neighborhood, call out the fire department and the environmental clean-up company that employs the men in the moon suits and then bill you thousands of dollars for the clean-up.

Not ranting, just noting how things have changed. No one wants children harmed and if we can keep them safe good, but parents, in my opinion, are still the best arbiter of what is dangerous or safe for their children. But I do recognize some parents have slipped through the cracks.

I was kidding with my wife the other day that my father, a frequent visitor here, in today's world might be in big trouble for letting me ride on his lap and steer the car on some back street, without a seat belt.

My brother and I were spanked and although I can't say I liked it at the time, I'm a better man for it today.