Warning Labels

On Thursday, January 24, my family and I went shopping at the Vaughn Mills mall, just north of Toronto. One of the features of Vaughn Mills, is that it contains a NASCAR Speed Park. This has many impacts on the mall itself, some obvious, like the huge volume of people that it brings in. As well as some not so obvious, like the fact that they have shopping carts that look small race cars. And this is what today's post is about. These shopping carts allow you to put one or two children in the front of it, and at the back is a space to put your purchases. At the back of the cart, where the handle connects, is a large, mesh bag. Printed on this bag, was a sign that read "Do not place child in bag."



Now, odds are, that if the mall went through all the trouble of printing that sign on all of those bags, it was because somebody saw fit to put a child in that bag. You see stuff like this all of the time, fast food coffee cups now come with a warning advising the consumer to be careful because the contents are hot. Duhhh, what kind of an idiot need a warning on a cup to tell them that the coffee they just bought is hot? What's next, a warning on soft drink cups warning the consumer that the ice may stick to their tongues?



Now many companies will argue that they need this warnings to protect themselves from lawsuits. Many people will also argue that we have become a very litigious society. Now, that may be true, but that is a result of people not being responsible for their own actions. Is it McDonald's fault if, after leaving the Drive-thru, while you are driving 100kmh down the highway, that you spill your hot coffee in your lap and severely burn your genitals? I think not! Some people will complain that it was too and therefore the fault of McDonald's that they got burned. A lawsuit gets launched and an even dumber jury awards the person millions of dollars, all because of their own stupidity.



This whole thing of warning labels makes me wonder what is next? I can see it now, razors with warnings by using this product, you may suffer nicks or cuts that may cause bleeding.

New Feel, New Look

It occurred to me the other day that I really have not been writing about what I had intended to when I first started this blog. Many of you will remember that I started this blog to better understand the phenomenon of social networks like blogs, Facebook, and My Space. At that time, my idea was to post random thoughts that I had. You know, the kind of things that make you go hmmm. When I started, they were a lot of things going on in my life, and these made there way into my blogs. Things have quieted down a lot now, and I have been thinking that it may be time to get back to the original theme.

Hopefully, with this idea, I will be able to post more often, and maybe reach a wider readership. I am planning (hopefully) to add pictures, links to stories on other sites, etc. This is not to say this I have abandoned posting stories on exciting, or interesting things that happen it my life. These will still appear, and with the new content, I hope to provide a fuller, richer space for my readers.

So, please stay tuned for the new blog, complete with a new look, and new content.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a good time on New Year's eve. Everyone in the family is doing well, and had a good Xmas. I received a my own laptop, so I hope to be able to post more frequently (no fighting with the kids for a computer).

Caroline and I had entered the 5km Resolution Run for charity that took place at 6:00PM New Year's Eve. It was a great night for a run, clear, around -2C, and no wind or snow. This was Caroline's first 5k competition run, and she turned in an excellent time of 36 minutes. This was my second 5k, and I completed it in 30:58 - shaving six minutes off of the first 5k I ran in September's Run for The Cure. Afterwards, we went back to The Running Room for free chili and prizes. I hope to continue this, and complete my next 5k in under 30 minutes, and by the fall, I hope to complete a 10k event.

Today was the day that we dropped Justin off at college. He is in student residence, just off campus, sharing a place with two other guys. Monday will be his first day in the heavy equipment course. He still needs to pick up his text books, but he does have most of his tools. The college is only a two hour drive from home, so he will be able to come home on weekends. I think once he starts getting in the swing of being back in school, he will really enjoy it, and will come less often.

Well, that's it for tonight, please stay tuned for more posts for 2008. Have a safe New Year.