Today I saw this kid who looked about 10 on the Caltrain swinging on the handrail where you wait to get off the train. His mother, who had scrubs on, leans over and tells him to stop, and then goes on to ask, “Did you know that such-and-such more boys have accidents a year than girls?” Having grown up with a doctor mom, this is a familiar situation – learning to assess the world as the number of ways I could end up in the Emergency Room, where my mom worked. But I really appreciate his response, especially from such a young kid. I never came up with arguments like this:
“That’s sexist!”
“It’s not sexist. It’s based on a survey.”
“It’s a sexist survey.”
“The survey can’t be sexist, because they just count the number of accidents. There were about 15,000 people in the survey – I’ll show you when we get home.”
“It’s sexist cause you’re telling me what to do cause I’m a boy.”
October 24, 2007 at 6:43 am
After 4 weeks of retirement, I still look at the world as the number of ways I would have to go back to the ER. FYI, that kid sounds a lot like you. ” If I wear a bike helmet, I will look like a dork and I will be beaten up by the other kids who refuse to wear a helmet.”