the lesson

  I heard about a new Tic-Tok challenge of stealing a car using a quarter. It is the Kia's and Hyundai's being targeted once again. The last challenge just required a usb cable. The manufacturer is being blamed for this. Now I may be in the minority on this one, but I don't see where the manufacturer should be held accountable for what kids are doing. During the last challenge the city of Baltimore was using taxpayers money to hand out steering wheel locks. I didn't think that was acceptable either. It's your car, it's your problem. To me this is the same logic as blaming a gun manufacturer for the misuse of their products. The same as blaming McDonalds because I got fat eating big Macs! They are in business to sell a product. The same is true of automobile manufacturers. They are not responsible because someone wants to steal it and figured out a way to do that. I never heard any great outcry when you could simply hotwire a car. I never heard any calls for change when it was discovered you could simply pull the ignition and steering wheel lock out of the steering column. Yeah, just takes a simple slide hammer. The ones stealing the vehicles are the ones responsible for the theft, not the manufacturer! This liberal logic has to be curbed! Pun intended.

  I just wonder how we got to this point. How is it the fault of the manufacturer or the one selling a product when that product is misused. Oh, but the children are being influenced on social media. Yeah, no kidding, when I was young we had a name for that, doing stupid things. If Johnny jumped off the roof, would you do that too? We were expected to have better sense than that and when we didn't, we were punished for that. The punishment may be the physical pain we experienced or take some other form but we were held accountable for that. It wasn't the fault of the roof or the fault of little Johnny, I told you he was a bad influence. Then I hear about the drug dealers selling illegal drugs on the street corners. Some of those drugs are deadly. Who is at fault? The one selling the drugs or the ones buying those drugs? There is talk of increasing the penalties for selling illegal drugs if those drugs cause death. Just how this is going to be determined I don't know. The person buying the drug isn't going to tell, they're dead. Do I need to get a receipt? Or are we now going to test those drugs before allowing their sale on the streetcorners and in back alleys. Some cities have responded by setting up safe spaces to inject those drugs under medical supervision and having a supply of Narcan readily available, you know, just in case. So just what is the message? It's okay to do illegal drugs as long as they don't kill you. It's okay to sell illegal drugs as long as those drugs don't kill people. Just what is the logic here? Just provide the severest penally for selling illegal drugs is my answer. If I caught you selling that crap, I'd inject you with it! Oh I'd give you the normal dose, under medical supervision of course. Do you want to purchase some Narcan? Well sorry, the store is closed.

  I just fail to see how it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to make the vehicle theft proof. When the bank is robbed it isn't the fault of the safe company. If I shoot myself in the foot, it isn't the fault of the gun manufacturer. Those vehicles have all the safeguards in place that is normal. Figuring out how to bypass the electronics is no different than figuring out how to bypass the mechanical interlocks of days gone by. There is an old saying and it is very true, locks are only there to keep honest people honest. As far as kids being influenced to steal cars by Tic-Tok I don't see what can be done about that. Influences are everywhere and always have been. That's why there are good and bad, right and wrong. It's about decision making. I get sick and tired of hearing all these "experts" spouting off about cultural values, social influencers, and insisting our children need to be coddled and protected. No, what our kids need is to be held accountable for their choices. I should be able to leave that quarter on the table and my children do not touch it because it isn't there's. It isn't my fault for leaving the quarter there, it is their fault if they take it. That is what needs to be taught. The lesson is really quite simple. You made your bed, now lie in it!