Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Your Table For Four Is Ready.

Okay, this is going to sound a bit very strange, but I rather feel sorry for Britney Spears having the Child Protective Services Nazis swoop down on her after her baby fell out of his high chair. So far as I can tell, the kid just slipped. Accidents happen.

I would think anybody who has gotten the fish eye from a pediatric nurse when trying to explain a child's bump, bruise or scrape would feel the same way, knowing that the nurse need only figuratively snap his or her fingers to bring down the Nanny State shock troops. It isn't so much the idea that the bureaucrats will haul off your child, but that they can that makes the whole business so creepifying. [And before any nursing professionals give me hell about this, I am fully aware that in many cases they have no choice in the matter and that failure to act or report opens them up to all kinds of trouble themselves.]

When we took the six year old to the hospital after my parents' dog bit her on the lip last fall, I was half afraid that I was going to get grilled over how I could possibly have let something like this happen to my little girl! Fortunately, they didn't cross examine me. I was also a bit concerned about the dog. The Missus tells me that in some states, an incident like that would have required that he be impounded, if not outright destroyed.

UPDATE: On the other hand, I won't take this bet.