Knives and responsibility

This kind of follows on the previous post, kind of doesn't. It has more general implications WRT awareness.

Some friends of mine are rearing their child with some... old fashioned? ideas on responsibility. As in, they're teaching him more things like left / right and less things like "hippopotamus". And he's been grabbing knives the proper way since before he could walk.

I was with them this first weekend of Easter and... it's curious. Curious how some people will freak out at the kid grabbing (properly) a knife, but will put him dessert out of reach, insuring an accident when the kid reaches for it (or tries to) at the same time the rest of the adults are busy staying out of the way of said waiters (and, then, presenting the bill to said kid; how come he needs better access to a bill than to his own food?).

Earlier that weekend, at a knife shop, the father was buying a shaving razor... just after a professional chef cut himself with a knife... and kept denying it. Still, there was blood on the floor when he left and no one else was bleeding. Denial. But... No one cleaned those knives he'd touched (or the floor). Let's just say my friend made sure his blade was in a factory-sealed container. You're left to wonder what happens if that guy bleeds on the menu.

Another knife shop, same guy, weeks ago, looking for a knife that would fit his kid's hand. In certain circles, "sharp is safe". Apparently not in a shop where they kept insisting on dull blades (the kid has several of those, gifts; those gifts are teaching him, basically, to play with blades... suboptimal), and that he could not carry the kid above knife-level (in case he fell on those knives; because, of course, the fall itself is meaningless)... and then promptly interfering with his range of vision and staying between parent and kid every single time they showed him a knife. There were Japanese blades on display.

But they were Following the Rules. That parent was a Maverick (TM). And so on... Still, the rules followed, they forgot about the meaning of those rules at the same time said parent tried to teach his kid how to safely work with those things.

What kind of parent do you thing raised the self-mutilating chef?

Take care.