Today I am going to look at another stupid meme I see on the internet all the time. You have definitely come across it, some of you probably shared it. It usually has something about how people from earlier generations survived riding in cars without seat belts, car seats were up front and not even secure, not wearing a bike helmet, drinking from the hose, etc…here is an example:
I think the meme is supposed to show just how much tougher the earlier generations were than the kids of today. First of all, who do you think is raising these kids? The generation that grew up doing all that stuff. When someone says they survived, well good for them. What about the kids who did not survive? I guess “fuck ’em. They weren’t tough enough.” Or maybe these people think no one actually died because of no bike helmets…
Child cyclist deaths have went down since 1980. I wonder why? Could it have been people pushing kids to wear helmets. Even when I was a kid, the helmet discussion was out there. I think I even had one, but I only wore it some of the time. I know there are pictures of my brother and me with helmets though.
This is just car crash fatalities since 2004 and the it has gone down. It has obviously went down since 1960. Why do you think that is? Because we have safer and more secure ways of keeping children in a car.
Look, since 1980 the death rate of children has declined. It may seem like a huge joke to some of you, but you have the luxury of being alive to laugh about it. Call a parent who lost a kid because they wrecked a bike and ended dying with a brain hemorrhage. Ask them if they wish their kid had a helmet and survived. The fact that anyone is bragging about second-hand smoke is idiotic. I grew up in a family of smokers. The doctor thought I had asthma when I was a kid because I had trouble breathing sometimes. Another doctor was quick to point out that it was probably the fact that my parents smoked.
Come on people, stop being so fucking stupid. And guess what, if I am making Payton a pussy by buckling her into a car seat properly and not allowing her to drink from the garden hose…so be it. I would rather a living kid who never knew that glorious metallic taste of water from a hose, than a dead kid who got lead poisoning from nasty hose water.
