Lately I've been buying old gasoline containers at garage sales. Practically everyone I see, I grab.
Why? Just read here and you'll see why, or I'll sum it up for you--the overprotection of children continues, and to heck with the adults.
Once again, convenience for adults--the ones that actually do all the work, mind you--has once again been stomped to bits because, apparently, we don't know how to make children stay out of things that aren't theirs to play with. Moreover, people who have no children and don't give a rip about them--and I have no hate for any such people, mind you--have to suffer yet another inconvenience due to this over-protection-ism.
As a result of this, since January of this year (2009), as mandated by law (and George Bush signed it!) all gasoline containers have childproof nozzles.
Have you tried using one of these things? It's about as straightforward and effortless as wrestling a muddy pig during a downpour, and equally as messy (and let's not forget it's gasoline making the mess). Me personally, I like for things to be easy to use, and since you can only get the "good old fashioned" gasoline containers at garage sales and the like, I've been snapping up everyone I can get my hands on, and even storing them in my storage room INSIDE where the weather won't age it as quickly.
You want to know what started this? As usual, woosy parenting, that's what. Apparently, someone's 4 year old child got into the gasoline can, spilled it, a fire resulted, and the child died.
Look, I don't want a child to burn to death, and I'm sure the parent is devastated at this, but dare I ask--has the parent ever heard of whipping a child's butt if they get into things not theirs? There is this little thing called "respect for property," and the children have to be taught it and expected to live it daily.
My mother surely didn't have this problem, and she didn't do everything right (what parent does?) but this concept was not a problem for her. She used to keep a rifle & shotgun in her bedroom closet, at FLOOR level, unlocked, merely concealed by her clothes. She even showed me where they were, and she also told me another thing--touch those things, and I'll whip your butt to pieces.
Without the benefit of any locks or CPS (Child Protective Services) intervention, we never had a gun accident, because I did not dare touch them. My mother's presence and intimating presence was all that was needed.
I love our 2 year old daughter Helen to bits, but she knows the routine--play with your toys, and leave mine alone. I don't tuck every last granule of belongings away where she can't get to it (other than obvious things like chemicals and razor blades). In fact, I make a POINT of leaving such things where she CAN get to them, yet communicating to her in no uncertain terms--you had better not touch it. Violate that rule, and it's not going to be fun for the next 3 minutes for you. (And yes, the EMPTY gasoline cans are in the house, and are among the "don't touch it or else" items.)
We have nieces/nephews who come over periodically, they think of me as the "crazy goofy Uncle," but they also know that, unlike the way things are with the persons (my in-laws) who normally watch them, they had better not go poking around into our things without asking. At the in-law's house they help themselves to the refrigerators and tools like it's a playground. Here, they ask, they know if they don't I know where the flyswatters and the switches are, and I WILL use them.
If more people would do that, we wouldn't have a need for these stupid goofy gas cans, and create an irritating inconvenience for adults trying to live life without a bunch of nagging hassles.
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