WTF Stories of the Week

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by JWBear

Why should the owners of these pools be forced to either fork over thousands of dollars or be forced to close? Where are the parents? Who in their right mind allows a child that young to swim in a pool unsupervised? Why should the rest of the public pay the price for parents who don't adequately supervise their children?

It’s nanny government any time laws or regulations are enacted that take away personal responsibility – in this case, the responsibility of the parents to keep their children from harm.

I find your indignation bizarre (but then I find the pervasive anti-child attitude on this board rather puzzling). Maybe I missed something, but doesn't your job depend on servicing adults who, it might be said, can't manage their own sh*t?

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

Okay, ONE person, in AMERICA, dies PER YEAR... and because of that, every public pool owner has to spend up to $15,000 to change their drains? 33 *gasp!* children over a span of 20 years, and this is considered the major threat to safety in this nation? I can think of hundreds of things that probably kill/maim/injure more children per year than this, and this is what they focus on?

(I'm not saying it isn't nice to protect the children, but let's start with the stuff more likely to kill more kids, shall we?)

I think the difference is 1) these stories are truly horrible and 2) it's not a speed limit situation where you're dealing with more theoretical risks and countervailing lifestyle choices. It's a clear risk, with a fatal outcome, and an obvious fix.