Smorgasbord Article

Let’s try something different today. I’m going to give some quick hitting reactions to some generally oddball news that we seem to get treated to on a regular basis these days. I’m not sure if there just isn’t enough real news to fill the ledger anymore or if the laws of nature have reversed and the “survival of the fittest” just isn’t in effect for humans anymore. It’s almost as if we have entered a cycle of “survival of the stupid.” Anyway, let’s get on with the show. Comment and let me know if you like today’s article format and I’ll write more if it’s well received.

First off, I have run across an article involving a man returning a pair of shoes and a not so welcomed revelation afterwards. The man purchased the shoes and subsequently found a cheaper pair of shoes later. Doing what any rational consumer would do, he returned the higher priced shoes and saved himself some money. However, after returning the product and leaving the store, he examined his return receipt. On that receipt, there was a line to identify the customer. The receipt states: CUST: DUMB N-Word. Of course the “n-word” was printed out… but in an effort to be at least tactful in the face of a politically correct world, I won’t print it out.

Wow, seriously? Sure, racism cannot be completely wiped out but really, how sweet must this customer service representative be? People are amazing sometimes. Let’s hope the employee was fired and removed from their post. It should be a fairly simple procedure.

Next up, I found a story involving a couple of toddlers playing on the roof of a building. Not a single story building, but one about 30 feet tall. A neighbor took a picture of the toddlers playing near the edge of the roof and stated that they even sat on the edge. It’s a pretty simple case of child neglect and horrible parenting but the tragic part of the story involves one of the mothers. One mother, who was working and going to school, left her child with her sister to care for while she was out. Her sister also has a toddler so it worked out well. However, while babysitting, the sister and a friend went to the roof to smoke and forgot to lock the door, allowing the children access to the roof.

Upon learning of this situation, law enforcement was called in and the sister was arrested and both children were taken into protective custody. I understand the need to take the sister’s child into protective custody, but to take the child of the mother who had thought she was doing the right thing by leaving her child in the care of another adult? It’s not her fault the babysitter made a mistake is it? I don’t understand the reasoning unless she was a part of the inappropriate care being given to the child.

Finally, the last story is from another country so it’s not like the United States has a stranglehold on oddball news. In Australia, a grandmother was fined $30,000 for calling her in-law a pedophile. The remark is of course slanderous if not true so the person filed a complaint and won. However, only four people (including two children) overheard the remark which came during a dispute about child access. I understand the need to protect citizens from slander, but what family hasn’t entered into a name calling contest at one point or another?

I’m thinking every family on the planet would be millionaires if we all followed the legal precedent set above. Here’s the story from the judge, “The making of an allegation of pedophilia, in the context of a dispute of access and custody, is like pouring oil onto a fire. It caused the plaintiff a great deal of anxiety and concern. ” Well, $30,000 for a “great” deal of anxiety and concern… I sure hope nobody calls him any other bad names. He might just turn into a shriveled mass of human flesh from the bullies in his life.

These stories were all on the front page of Fox News today. Of course there were other outrageous stories on the site and CNN’s website was littered with similar content. Is there any real news out there anymore? Are we too “stupid” these days to want and ask for real news? How do these types of stories end up on the national news media sites? They are news, but they are local news only. The only thing these stories accomplish is to promote that “survival of the stupid” is in fact, a reality.

Citation: http://www.foxnews.com/