A Word About Common Sense

Does anyone remember the woman who sued McDonalds for some extravagant amount of money because she burned herself when she spilled hot coffee on her lap?

She won her multi-million dollar lawsuit and now we have warning labels on coffee telling us that “contents may be hot”.

Do you ever wonder why there’s a warning sticker hair dryers that says not to use them in the bathtub? Or how about the warning on metal ladders that says not to use them around power lines?

Don’t these things seem, I don’t know, obvious? Like don’t put your finger in a light socket or turn on the garbage disposal while your hand is down it.

Common sense tells you not to do these things.

I’ve received a number of emails and a few comments about the recently recalled* Bumbo Baby Sitter.

A while back I wrote the praises of the Bumbo and I stand by that post; I also stand by my assertion of the misnomer product name. It is not a BABY SITTER. It’s a seat for babies.

A seat that does not have any sort of lock-in mechanism, or even a basic hook to tie your child to the seat. So common sense would dictate that, perhaps, leaving your child unattended might not be… well… wise.

I do not mean to question anyone’s parenting skills, nor do I wish any child harm. In fact, I feel awful for any parent whose child was hurt while using the Bumbo and wish them all a speedy recovery.

But c’mon people… let’s use a little common sense; don’t leave your unbuckled child unattended.
Otherwise, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is going to make up slap a warning sticker on infants before they can leave the hospital.


*it’s not really a recall, you simply call the Bumbo company and they’ll send you a sticker telling you how not to use their product.