The 21st century rule of thumb seems to be, if you can't trust a psychopath with it, don't give it to a child. Another generation of this and the Jihadists can walk in and take over the lot without firing a shot. Come to think of it...
Tuesday 26 April 2011
No risk, no fun
The 21st century rule of thumb seems to be, if you can't trust a psychopath with it, don't give it to a child. Another generation of this and the Jihadists can walk in and take over the lot without firing a shot. Come to think of it...
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It reminds me of those "doctor" and "nurse" toy kits we had as kids. Lots of "atmosphere", no substance.
One of my (dementedly PC) aunts bought me a doctor kit for my birthday every year from ages two to six because she was determined that I was going to be a "nice boy". Meanwhile, I was building plastic models of warplanes and tanks (thank you, Aurora Models), and playing with spring-powered shooting mortars and bazookas (thank you, Remco).
When I went into law enforcement a decade and a half later she nearly had a seizure. (Being a liberal, she had that whole Cops Are Bad People thing going- this was the Seventies, of course.)
She should have paid attention when I told her there was no chance of me ever being Ben Casey, because I don't even like dissecting frogs, much less people. Edible animals are another matter- it's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. (And before anyone asks, no, I don't particularly like frogs' legs.)
cheers
eon
From the product web site: "60 + fun activities with home science and kitchen chemistry. Investigate with safe and simple materials - discover basic scientific laws and phenomena.
Grow crystals; Chromatograohy [sic]; Optics; Growing Plants; Slime and Gook; Science Tricks;3 Dimensional Bubbles and more!"
Pathetic.
Sergej;
The idea of "chemistry fun with everyday chemicals in your home!" sounds great. Until you consider that any halfway well-stocked kitchen contains more than enough "chemicals" to cause a respectable explosion, if properly (or improperly) mixed. Or even nastier events.
Hint; never mix ammonia and chlorine bleach, as one high school classmate of mine once did in a "demonstration" of a "new household cleaner". (English class project; "Do a live TV commercial for a new consumer product". Seriously.) Everybody in the room wondered why I yelled "DON'T!!" at the guy- and then bolted for the door when the stupid a** did it anyway.
Then the rest of them got a whiff, and beat me to the outside exit.
After we had to evacuate an entire floor of the building due to the chlorine gas fumes, the fire chief was more than happy to explain it to the kid, the teacher, and the principal.
The great thing about a real chemistry set is that generally, the chemicals and experiments included are designed to avoid the potential for any major "oopsies". As seen above.
cheers
eon
Mix up some poison gas from ingredients you found yourself, and you haven't got a lawsuit. Misuse chemicals provided in a chemistry set, or leave them where someone too young or stupid to know better can get at them, and when you come back from the hospital your house is going to have lawyers perched on it like a tree full of crows.
Whatever happened to the days of "Atomic (tm) Junior Nuclear Physicist Sets", when the company could stick a label that said "warning: alpha source; do not ingest" on the lead box, and this was deemed sufficient?
Pray for Coal for Christmas - ten most dangerous toys of our lifetimes...
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