Why supermarkets are off their trolleys | Carol Midgley - Times Online

Why supermarkets are off their trolleys Carol Midgley - Times Online

Oh for the love of all that is sacred and holy...what has this world come to? You can't take pictures of your own children at a park because of fears of pedophilia...can't buy alcohol for yourself if your child is with you because you may be buying it for them...lectured on proper pregnancy diet by the supermarket deli clerk...what the hell?

Have we gone so far down the road of needing nanny laws and covenants that it's not just lawmakers telling us what to do now? Is it the extreme paranoia of being sued? Do we really think that the sick & twisted perv pedophile is going to be so brazen (and stupid) as to take their kiddie porn shots to Wal-Mart for developing so that any parent who takes a cute pic of their kids in the bathtub is arrested & their children placed in protective custody?

This article title says it all...but it's not just supermarkets that are off their trolleys...it is the whole world. We are so focused on protecting everyone from themselves that rather than enforce laws already in existence we create new ones that are, essentially, fucking common sense. I know that it's not a good idea to give your child alcohol...however if I want to buy a bottle of wine and my seven year old is with me, does the clerk really believe that I'll be pouring her a glass the second we get out the door so therefore I should not be allowed to buy it? If I'm pregnant, do I really need the deli counter clerk telling me I should not be purchasing the potato salad, ham, roast beef and colby jack cheese but instead lean turkey and fruit salad because it's healthier? Let's not even go into what would happen to said clerk if I were in a delicate condition and such a comment were made...the meat slicer would definitely be involved...but I digress....

I do not need to be regulated into doing the right thing...I had parents who taught me that. I understand not everyone does but people still learn right from wrong. If someone is determined to do the wrong thing, no law on the books would stop them. If it did, our prisons would be empty.

This whole business of a zero tolerance policy has gotten entirely out of hand. All it does is punish good people while doing nothing to deter the criminal and evil elements of society from committing whatever vile acts that they are going to do. We really need to think about where we are going down this road and step forward as a nation, as a world, and say "enough is enough!"