Worst case scenario
I am always extremely careful on escalators. Why? My foot could get caught and I could lose my leg.
Decades ago, my grandparents used to take the Wheelock sisters to O'Hare to see the planes come in. We'd also get to ride the moving sidewalks and the escalators. We didn't have those things in Darien. My grandma would tell us to be careful, because her sister got a rain boot caught in the escalator teeth once and almost lost her leg!
For similar reasons, I warn the kids at Wilson to make sure their shoelaces are tied. When I was in elementary school, I tripped on a shoelace and knocked my front teeth out on the sidewalk.
And also make sure you have renters' insurance. If I didn't have insurance when someone set fire to the entryway of my Madison apartment, I don't know how I would have replaced all my belongings.
Well, not everyone is going to meet catastrophe if they're not careful. I'm not (extraordinarily) accident-prone. So why do we use these extremes to warn people, especially children? Fairy tales used to serve the same purpose. Do you ever find yourself doing that?
Apr 6, 2011 at 8:58 p.m.
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I started using the "worst case scenario" after an unfortunate accident with my sister who later said, "why didn't anyone tell me this would happen?" Well, I'll tell you now! Forewarned is forearmed :)
Apr 6, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.
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JoyM, if you use another malapropism like that, you'll poke your eye out!
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I know it's funny how we want to make sure our kids are safe. Heck, I used to cross one of the railroad bridges in town both on top and using the structural steel elements below. I could have fallen and cracked my head on a rock or drowned, like that. But you see, that's my adult self warning my youth self of the consequences I ignored!
Apr 6, 2011 at 8:47 a.m.
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(janesvillean - also such as, "for all intensive purposes" instead of "for all intents and purposes" and "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less" or "try and do that" instead of "try to do that". Maybe we need a dire warning for those who use these phrases incorrectly.....) I haven't given my kids a dire warning, but since I was one of those dumb kids who stuck their tongues on frosty metal and ripped a hole in it (my tongue, I mean), maybe I should...except that I don't want them to know about what dumb Mom did, and even less do I want them telling tales to their friends!
Apr 6, 2011 at 7:29 a.m.
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We are becoming too paranoid of a society. Pretty soon we'll have to have our insurance policies insured, and we'll be driving around in foam bubbles. People are becoming less careful because we have all these protective measures in place.
Apr 5, 2011 at 9:46 p.m.
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(Thank you for saying "WORST case scenario" instead of the increasingly common "WORSE case scenario" ...)
Apr 5, 2011 at 7:18 p.m.
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My mom told me something once and I replied "can I at least do it until I need glasses?"
Apr 5, 2011 at 6:26 p.m.
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You forgot to mention all those things that could put your eye out, too.
I'm just sayin'...
Apr 5, 2011 at 5:33 p.m.
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Gee, the only warning I ever got as a kid was that my face would freeze this way.
*
There was that one day, however, the importance of wearing a bike helmet was proven to my youngest son and me.
We were on a nice ride when he suddenly jumped off his bike and pointed out to me that he'd forgotten his helmet. As we stood there talking about it, his bike fell over on the sidewalk... handlebars still in his hands.
Just like that, the handlebars fell off his bike. Imagine if he'd been riding his bike when it happened.
If concern over his missing helmet hadn't stopped him, he'd have been *on* the bike when it fell apart.
Pretty wild, huh?
Apr 5, 2011 at 5:19 p.m.
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I <3 my renter's insurance.
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