If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions? — Scott Adams (1957 – )
As is now par for the course here in the wide, wacky world that is the United States, some New Jersey parents have decided to blame a piece of white plastic for their bad parenting skills, instead of themselves. Personal responsibility, at least here in America, is now an option, not a requirement, for citizenship.
The plastic? The Wii Zapper housing. The problem? It encourages children who use it to go out into the world and kill people, according to the clueless couch potatoes that responded to a recent question posed by Peggy O’Crowley in New Jersey newspaper the Star Ledger.
Problem is, I had the original Zapper way back in 1987, and I killed many a duck, burglar and tin can in Duck Hunt and Hogan’s Alley, but never a person. I even unplugged the Zapper from time to time, tucked the cord in my pants, and ran around the house pretending I had a magic ray gun. My dog never stood a chance as I chased him around the living room, but I never actually shot my dog with a real gun. Or my schoolmates. Or strangers at the bus stop. Why? Because my parents weren’t too busy writing banal, ill-informed letters to the editor about how the light gun they bought for me was leading to the downfall of society. Because that would have been idiotic. Responses and commentary after the jump thingy.
Please, read these with caution, because I had to take six Advil before I could get back to a condition where I could type again.
“Great, this is what we need. Children with guns learning how to aim and shoot. Then we can sit back and wonder what is happening to our country with kids killing kids……what’s next? Could we make it squirt blood, too” one reader commented
A “very concerned grandparent” wrote:
“….Why don’t they enclose an application to the NRA in every box as well….the marketing person who came up with this brain child of an idea should be fired.”Another reader commented, “I think it’s irresponsible for Wii to come out with a controller that looks like a gun so kids can play games simulating shooting. What kind of message are we sending as parents when we buy these things for our kids?”
The last one is classic. It’s irresponsible to sell something that you make a conscious decision to buy for your child?It’s called “don’t buy it then.” What message are you sending as a parent when you buy that thing for your kid? You’re sending the message that you’re an idiot, because you, by writing this letter, are protesting your own actions. YOU bought it for YOUR kid, and now you’re saying it’s a bad idea? Here’s another bad idea: you being allowed to have a kid in the first place, because you’re obviously just buying it whatever it asks for, then leaving it be in front of the TV with no supervision so it can soak in whatever it wants.
So remember, when you buy the Wii Zapper, you are now in the NRA. Or something.