from knowyourmeme.com
My country disgusts me. More specifically, a large proportion of the people I have to share it with. I maintain a small degree of optimism for the rest of the planet; continental Europe seems – at least at a cursory glance – to accommodate more accommodating types.
This article from the Herald Sun is a brief piece about the possibility of round the clock childcare. And here is a small selection of comments from it:
I can’t even begin to point out all the problems with what these people have said, and how they’ve said it. I just don’t know where to start. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read this stuff. Maybe I’ll just address each one individually…
George of Melbourne: If people didn’t have kids, you wouldn’t exist. Nobody you know and love would exist. And if people were allowed to have kids up until now, but must suddenly stop, all of a sudden every person working the childcare or education industry will be unemployed immediately. In the longer term, the entire human race will die out. Thank you for playing.
HK of user and abuser land: I have no idea what your ‘name’ is supposed to signify, but that’s not really the point. Many, maybe even most, people with kids do look after them. I look after mine. But that doesn’t mean that some childcare wouldn’t be handy, for all sorts of reasons. You appear to be implying that no parent is permitted to take a break or have a rest until their child grows up and leaves home. That is unreasonable and counter-productive; every job lets you have time off. Thanks for playing.
An accessory after the fact: Is that what you’d do? Any of your friends? No? I thought not; nobody I know would do that either. Thank you for your hyperbole.
Brett of kids first: Tell me exactly why it’s a horrible idea, please. It seems unconventional to you, I can see that, but that doesn’t make it objectively horrible. Try for some evidence to back up your assertion. Also, shops in Europe do open on weekends and in the evenings. I’m afraid I can’t do anything but point out that you are just plain wrong on that one. Thanks for playing.
There were some more comments, but I couldn’t fit them all into the screenshot. They were all equally ill-informed and narrow. I’ll just go and shut myself in a linen cupboard now, and hope that when I get out, people have learned… something. Anything. Please.
The Thinking Mum 