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Saturday, April 19, 2014

NO THINKING ALLOWED


NO THINKING ALLOWED
 A cranky opinion for
CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with very little knowledge on the subject opined.  Opposing opinions are welcome…I will ignore them, but they are welcome, and please, no name calling, and that means you…you big stupid head!

Again and again I read of silly judgments in schools because of “A zero tolerance policy.”  A kid is suspended for pointing his finger like a gun…zero tolerance.  A first grader is suspended for kissing a girl on the cheek…sexual harassment…zero tolerance.

Several years ago, I ordered a beer at a baseball game and was asked to show proof of my age.  I asked if 65 was too old to order a beer and was told everyone needs to prove they are at least 21.

Doctors are not allowed to think like they once did.  Go in with a complaint of a stomach ache and they will put you through a battery of tests.  “Probably just the six slices of pizza and two liters of coke you had for lunch, but just to be sure…”  Health care costs are up dramatically, but the doctors cover their malpractice butts by ordering all those tests.  There was a day where ordering unnecessary tests would be considered malpractice…that is not today.

There are still people in jail with long term sentences for carrying a few ounces of a substance that is currently legal in two states.  The law is the law, no common sense allowed. 

I just read about a Missouri man who was sentenced to 13 years in jail for armed robbery.  Because of a clerical error he was released and did not serve any time.  Twelve years later, the man is married, has a family, owns a small business, coaches youth football, doesn’t miss church on Sunday and is your basic model citizen.  He has not been on the run, did not change his name and lives two blocks from where he lived when he committed his crime. 

The error has been uncovered, and this reformed robber is going to jail.  The victim of his crime does not want him to go to jail, but it is the law.  He did the crime, he must do the time.  Maybe while he is in jail his children will go astray without a male role model in their life.  Maybe while he is in jail the employees of his small business will go on welfare, or maybe they will resort to crime.  Maybe thirteen years in jail will take this reformed thief and send him out into the world with the tools and attitude to rob again.

Maybe.

Maybe Doctors, teachers and judges should be given the power to think.  Maybe sometimes laws and rules should be a guideline and not always be ridged.   

Our Doctors, teachers, judges and other leaders are generally intelligent people.  Maybe we should allow them to interpret a situation and apply rules as they see fit, as they see they make sense.

We need rules and we need laws, but maybe we should also be allowed to think.


The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man, and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.
  
 
 

22 comments:

  1. Geez Cranky, we could be related. How come we agree on so many things?
    Well, except the doctor bit. Seems our docs have a little more leeway, but we're not quite as lawsuit happy up here in the Great White North. Happy Easter.

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  2. Nothing to say except "I totally agree". We have way too many (supposedly) really, really smart people do really, really dumb things. WTH?

    S

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  3. It does seem like common sense is missing in action. Not long ago I was prescribed a medication by my doctor and I was shocked when he informed me the law required him to give me a "pregnancy test." This doctor has examined me many times and is well aware of my gender, but he said he was required by law to give me a blood test because of this medication's adverse affects on fetuses. Of course I was billed for the test. As it turned out, I wasn't pregnant. Too bad because I might have capitalized on this and made millions.

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    1. Dang Stephen, this problem is even worse than I thought!

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    2. I know it's not funny -- but I can't stop laughing!

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  4. truly we are overzealous in so many ways and not concentrating on making the world function well.

    i'm gonna go pet my lab - give him a big chest thump and an ear scritch... sigh...

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  5. Common sense has become the thing that gets sued. I am so sick of zero tolerance and the stupidity that goes along with it.

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  6. Part of the problem is those in charge that tell us what we are supposed to think. I see that happening a lot. We shouldn't have an opinion different than what the thought police want us to have, because if we do have a different opinion then the name calling starts and you don't allow that here.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  7. I do not like no tolerance policies. Every case is different and should be treated differently. Lets treat a little kid like a bad kid for doing something normal. In the case of the armed robber, I would let him stay free. Maybe have a new sentencing for him and fine him instead of having him serve time. It seems he has turned away from a life of crime. Lets not make criminals out of his kids now.

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  8. This is so true. It seems that zero tolerance policies do more harm than good.

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  9. Hey, you can already buy whatever result you want if you can pony the cash. While I agree with the sentiment it is just this concept that allows a borderline worthless kid to be let off because he was too privileged to know what he did was wrong.

    it allows a General to be let off for things a serviceman would be dishonorably discharged for.

    And you notice that in these cases of zero tolerance they never say " ... and his parents have hired (insert your favorite shady expensive attorney here) to fight the charge ... ". In recent years we've had a couple zero tolerance issues disappear because the parents were wealthy but others were pressed to the maximum extent because the parents could not afford (insert your favorite shady expensive attorney here).

    It's a mad mad mad mad mad mad World.

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  10. I think Bob pretty much shared my own thoughts. Reading Stephen's comment... that just .. insane.

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  11. Sometimes you ACTUALLY make sense!!

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  12. "Thinking" and "common sense" seem to be highly underrated values these days... *sigh*

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  13. I'm sure Mrs. Cranky agrees with you, too, as does everyone!

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  14. All these examples are absolutely ridiculous and give you a rage headache just reading them. As for the armed robber turned good... that's a very interesting one. Yes, it is silly to send him to jail, he should be let off. But as with all these things, how do you do that without setting precedents for others? You'd think maybe in this case it might be possible, given that clerical errors with such a strange impact like this one can't be too common. So you'd think, with a little effort, some non-precedent-setting exception could be granted. But no, it's probably all too hard for everyone to come up with.

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  15. I'm still under 50 but I have to agree with you on this cranky post.
    Or maybe I'm just cranky, too?

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  16. came back to say congrats on your potw!

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  17. Bravo!
    (And you don't seem to be so cranky!) :-)

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