You can’t stop after just 300. Just some random linkage and so on; by reading a few of these, you begin to see the elephant:
§ Caleb Monroe attempts the greatest experiment of all with a pedometer:
So, since my feet sure feel the mileage every year, this year I thought I’d find out just what that mileage was. So I bought a pedometer to count the number of steps I took during the con, and therefore approximately what distance I traveled. I forgot to get one before leaving for my train, but after walking the few blocks from the train station to my hotel and dropping off my bag, the first thing I did was walk another couple blocks to Long’s Drugs to buy a pedometer. A Gaiam Beginner Pedometer, to be precise.
§ And what about those pesky strollers?
I was one of those persons who took a stroller and 8 month old to the Con, and I’d just like to say — that stroller and child is no bigger than half the fans on the show floor. Most of the people I ran into were rude people trying to jump over the stroller and grab a sticker or postcard. And I protect my child, thank you very much. I mostly stayed to the lesser traveled areas unless there was a specific reason to go to the more crowded areas. And I paid more than enough to go wherever the hell I pleased however the hell I pleased with whomever the hell I pleased. My daughter’s safety and happiness was paramount, and I missed most of the signings and panels I wanted to see because I was catering to her and my wife. And I had absolutely no problem with that. Anyone complaining about the kids at the Con either have no children or have forgotten what it is like to be one. In other words, shut up. BTW, I didn’t get run over by one single stroller, even my own when the wife was driving. Maybe paying attention to my surroundings and not being rude helped a bit. I’ve been going to this event for 9 years, and I’ve rarely been run over by anything but a rabid fan looking for freebies. Maybe we should ban THEM.
A BOLD PREDICTION: The SDCC Hollywood money-train will soon drift to a slow crawl. Comic properties will continue to sell, but the marketing people will wise up a bit. Oh, you’ll still see cool presentations and the occasional Owlship at the Con every year, but the Keanus and Jolies will dry up, and with them all the casual fans who swell the yearly body count past 125,000. Things will drift back to a more sustainable size and no one (sweet jeezus here’s hoping) will have to go to Vegas. So don’t fret none, San Diego… You’ll be hating our guts and collecting all our money for many, many years to come.
(This one businessman-looking guy on the sidewalk actually shouted at me to “get my ass out the way” on Friday. He waved his arm all angry-like and everything. We reacted the only way you can react: hysterical laughter.)
I had a fake homosexual encounter on the con floor. I vandalized a baby and I nearly got a spanking from Stan Lee.
Saturday: more of a blur. At 7 AM we looked out the window of our hotel room and saw that there was an enormous WAVE of people waiting to get in (not a line/queue, a WAVE).
§Nikki Cook’s photos and LJ, above with Ted McKeever.
§ Comics Bakery photos
§ Dave Roman comes home:
-Coming back home with Raina, getting late-night Greek food in Astoria, and feeling good about our lives.
“I’ve been going to this event for 9 years, and I’ve rarely been run over by anything but a rabid fan looking for freebies.”
Very well put.
>>I was one of those persons who took a stroller and 8 month old to the Con, and I’d just like to say — that stroller and child is no bigger than half the fans on the show floor.
Whether your stroller and/or child takes up more physical space than an overweight adult is not the issue.
The issue is why the hell you are bringing an 8-month old who can’t even comprehend what is going around them to a crowded event like this.
I saw several children who appeared to be 5 or older at the con having a delightful time marveling at all the sights, and having their picture taken with Batman, and one kid at the “Brave and the Bold” cartoon panel whose Dad brought him up to the mike so he could ask the panelists whether the Batmobile will do cool things. I loved that.
But to bring a tiny baby in a stroller to a crowded event when they can’t even comprehend or participate in it is not idiotic but displays poor parenting skills.
Next time, hire a babysitter for a few hours. Or realize that the lifestyle choice to have children may also mean you might have to make a – gasp! – personal sacrifce and maybe forego the con for a few years until your kid is old enough to walk on his own and not have to be pushed through the crowd in a Hummer-sized stroller.
>>I was one of those persons who took a stroller and 8 month old to the Con, and I’d just like to say — that stroller and child is no bigger than half the fans on the show floor.
Whether your stroller and/or child takes up more physical space than an overweight adult is not the issue.
The issue is why the hell you are bringing an 8-month old who can’t even comprehend what is going around them to a crowded event like this.
I saw several children who appeared to be 5 or older at the con having a delightful time marveling at all the sights, and having their picture taken with Batman, and one kid at the “Brave and the Bold” cartoon panel whose Dad brought him up to the mike so he could ask the panelists whether the Batmobile will do cool things. I loved that.
But to bring a tiny baby in a stroller to a crowded event when they can’t even comprehend or participate in it is not idiotic but displays poor parenting skills.
Next time, hire a babysitter for a few hours. Or realize that the lifestyle choice to have children may also mean you might have to make a – gasp! – personal sacrifce and maybe forego the con for a few years until your kid is old enough to walk on his own and not have to be pushed through the crowd in a Hummer-sized stroller.
>>But to bring a tiny baby in a stroller to a crowded event when they can’t even comprehend or participate in it is not ONLY idiotic but displays poor parenting skills.
Correction above.
I’ve taken 30 year olds to that show that can’t comprehend what’s going on around them. I AM A BAD FRIEND.
Hunh. I had zero problems with stroller folks on the convention floor. Really, the only difficulties I encountered were:
1) The usual overflow from some event at a booth, clogging an aisle
2) Slightly overzealous security guards yelling at us to let us know we couldn’t go that way, when we were just trying to ask them a question
3) The occasional person backing up to take a picture without taking a quick glance over their shoulder
4) The occasional bodycheck from someone who really absolutely needed to move through me, right now
But yeah, no stroller issues. I mean, the various mobility devices (carts, one Segway) I saw were more disruptive to crowd flow, but whatever. I want everyone to be able to attend.
Stephen — spoken like a true non-parent.
While I noticed more strollers than usual, I never had any problems with them.
>>The Beat Says:
Stephen — spoken like a true non-parent.
And damn proud of it! ; )
Please note that I don’t have a problem with children – I have a problem with their parents.
“The issue is why the hell you are bringing an 8-month old who can’t even comprehend what is going around them to a crowded event like this.”
Well Stephen, some of us parents love our kids and enjoy taking them with us everywhere we go. Kids (even babies) are pretty good at going places if they’re used to it. I take my daughter everywhere with me, and she does great. I know she will because I know my little girls limits. You don’t. In fact you have no idea what you’re talking about at all. Don’t judge a parent until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, for good or ill. I’d also like to point out to anyone else that thinks this way, that conventions are for everyone, including parents, children, gamers, costplayers, artist, writers, trannies, the disabled, the mentally challenged, and even people who like to sit up on high and pass down they’re judgment. They’re not however just about you and how you think it should all be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a break and watch The Little Mermaid with my daughter.
>>Christopher Moonlight @ Moonlight Art Magazine Says:
Well Stephen, some of us parents love our kids and enjoy taking them with us everywhere we go.
So it’s really about YOUR enjoyment, not necessarily your kids. Interesting.
By the way, notice I didn’t generalize my argument to ALL children at the convention – just those children who are clearly too young to even comprehend what is going on around them, no matter how much of a well behaved angel they are in public. You might as well cart around someone in a coma.
At an event that is already extremely crowded and poses a potential safety risk even to full-grown adults, pushing around a huge stroller with a baby less than a year old in it has to be the height of oblivious self-absorption.
Good luck with your kid at future cons if there’s ever a fire or earthquake.
Yeah! And good luck with your kids when the monsters that only eat kids come to the show. You’re going to feel STUPID.
All parents reading this please make a video of your child surrounded by a bunch of comics and video games and send it to Stephen so he can judge their reactions and tell you how to parent on an individual basis.
If you don’t, self-righteous Internet posting guy thinks you’re a bad parent. So hop to it!
(please don’t tell me how a self-aware child helps in an earthquake)
I agree with everything Stephen has said. Last I checked, strollers were banned by the folks running the show. That means you deliberately broke their rules due to your own self-importance.
The fact that you chose to breed and that you can’t bear to be separated from your spawn is your personal problem, and others shouldn’t have to put up with your kid or its accessories. YOU are the problem. When you chose to become a parent, you accepted the responsibility of caring for a child and with that responsibility comes sacrifice. Suck it up.
Parents, the world doesn’t revolve around you and/or your offspring. It’s not the rest of the world’s responsibility to watch out for your kids; it’s YOURS. Keep your damn kids out of movie theatres, sporting events, and crowded places of commerce!
For the record, people who rush the booths to get free stuff, people who block the lanes to take pictures, and people who take in hand trucks with half their comic collection are all just as guilty as you are, but at least they’re not putting a defenseless child in harm’s way. If your kids in a stroller, he/she’s too young to be at Comic-Con. That’s just a fact, and it’s time you accepted it…. because you know who you’re REALLY pissing off? Parents who were smart enough and cared enough about their kid to let him/her stay with the grandparents during their Comic-Con adventure, and then they arrive and see your arrogant stroller-pushing selves.
Caring parents leave the kids at home; the rest of you are just flirting with disaster.
>>All parents reading this please make a video of your child surrounded by a bunch of comics and video games and send it to Stephen so he can judge their reactions and tell you how to parent on an individual basis.
Actually, I would be very interested in such a video. While at the con last week, I seriously considered asking some of these parents, “So what comic books does your 8 month old read?”
I’ll bet these are the same people who bring crying babies with them into the movie theatre. As I said, oblivious, self-absorbed, and poor parenting skills.
Remember when parenthood meant having to make some sacrifices in order to be a responsible parent?
You know…like not going to a late night R-rated movie with your small child that is likely to cry at least once during the movie (either because they’re just a baby or they are old enough to be shocked by what is on screen).
Or going to an over-crowded convention, with loud people/booth noise, half-naked women, people dressed as scary characters and germs galore.
Or having that extra expense to secure reliable childcare so you had the freedom to go do anything like that without dragging your kid along.
Is it unfair? Hell no. I think it is completely fair to restrict attendance to kids old enough to move on their own and be able to understand/enjoy the proceedings.
Unpopular Says:
>>When you chose to become a parent, you accepted the responsibility of caring for a child and with that responsibility comes sacrifice. Suck it up.
Parents, the world doesn’t revolve around you and/or your offspring. It’s not the rest of the world’s responsibility to watch out for your kids; it’s YOURS.
I think there is this sense among some parents who feel that their ability to reproduce gives them some kind of sense of entitlement and permission to violate the often unspoken rules of common sense and consideration we owe to each other in shared public spaces.
But maybe I’m missing something so for those who brought their 8-month old baby to Comic-Con let me ask: What did your baby (not YOU) get out of the experience?
>sense of entitlement and permission to violate the
>often unspoken rules of common sense and
>consideration we owe to each other in shared public >spaces.
Pretty much the definition of a Babyman. Give me the real thing any day.
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT AGAINST THE BABIES RUINING COMIC-CON!!!
When I have an 8 month old, as a parent I will enjoy taking them everywhere I also go. Like stripclubs, cigar lounges and bars.
I will be an awesome parent.
For the record, I had no problem with strollers. I’m used to dodging them on the streets of New York. I had more problems with parents who were willing to trample anyone — man, woman or wee bairn — over a cloth bag or cardboard tube.
I think the people running the con did a fantastic job with security and safety — aside from the pipe and drape disaster of Hall H, which could have been much worse. Safety of attendees MUST be the greatest consideration of all concerned.
That said, I don’t have a problem with people bringing their kids to the show. A baby in a stroller is no more of a disturbance than a Stromtrooper or a booth babe from a congestion point of view. I seem to remember people here castigating a comics pro for wanting to get a nanny pool to watch their kids during the show. So make up your minds.
I was at the Tori Amos panel and a baby started crying.
It was weird and shot me right back to reality. Oh… there are babies here!
I have to admit, in all the years I’ve been to the con I don’t recall so many babies.
The strollers didn’t bother me on the con floor, but I can see both sides of the coin.
No video Tom, but here’s something for you to check out. Our daughter at 2007 SDCC.
http:// christophermoonlight.blogspot.com/2007/08/big-2007-san-diego-comic-con-wrap-up.html
Sorry if it ruined anybody else’s good time. As you can see, my wife and I should be thrown in jail for scarring her for life in this way. I can see how this is just as bad as taking her into an R rated movie whilst others try to enjoy the show. That totally makes sense. I also can see now that it’s only parents that like having their kids with them. Kids are independent in nature at birth, and would rather spend all their time at home with strangers and never go out at all. It’s their way. I’m so glad that non parents have shown me the errors of my ways. I will also now have T-shirts printed up that say, “I’m sorry I brought my child with me” and put one on for every day of the week.
I had to put a space in the link to post it. Just ad your own www.
Yeah, I remember that too. It was kind of a surprise. As I recall, though, it wasn’t very long before the parent took the baby out of the room. Presumably as soon as it was clear that he/she wasn’t going to stop crying.
I cried during two panels this year.
Cute kid. Looks like she’ll be traumatized for life, all because you took her to Comic-Con.
My only criticism is of the parents themselves. Some are clueless, or ambivalent, not realizing how annoying their child’s behavior is.
Yeah, I grumble when I see a stroller on a subway train during rush hour. (The rules require strollers to be folded. Very unlikely.) I’ve seen four-year-olds in strollers, and wondered “why?” (Or, where can I get one of those?) Otherwise, like most New Yorkers, I just tune it out.
Tom, I peed my pants when I hear Mark Waid was writing Incredibles. Next year I’ll wear my Aquaman Depends…
Mr. Moonlight,
I appreciate your attempt at interjecting some humor into this discussion, but the fact remains that strollers are banned, and parents should use more common sense in regard to bringing their children to movie theatres. Comic-Con is perilous enough for the adults. Putting a defenseless child in that situation is a poor decision, and I hope you never have to be taught the lesson of just how bad a decision it was.
“but the fact remains that strollers are banned, and parents should use more common sense in regard to bringing their children to movie theatres.”
First of all, strollers are not banned from comic con. Let’s keep the facts strait. Parents are asked not to bring over sized strollers, and rolling hand carts are banned.
I don’t understand why this movie theater thing keeps coming up. It really is totally different then what we’re talking about. In fact, this whole thing is getting out of hand. What I’m seeing here is a bunch of people who don’t have enough patience or courtesy to wait an extra couple of seconds so that a family (who has just as much right to be there and enjoy their day together) can get along like everyone else. So in order to not be a bad person in their own mind, they find all sorts of ways to justify they’re snide and self absorbed attitudes, including but not limited to labeling parents as bad people who are putting they’re poor defenseless children in harms way. I’ve got news for you. Children are by no means defenseless while their parents are around. If you don’t believe me, try hurting one in front of mom or dad, and just see if you make it out alive. What really disturbs me is that this attitude towards strollers seems to be not only about comic con, but everywhere that people seem to be on foot. Parents and their kids go hand in hand. Deal with it, or stay home, because like I pointed out before, we have as much right to be out in public as everyone else. If you don’t want to look inside yourself and try to understand this, then that’s you’re problem and not the parents.
Sorry. It’s been a ruff week, and I’ve been a little touchy.
OK. The movie thing keeps coming up because it is a similarly inappropriate place to drag a young child to.
Overcrowded.
Smelly.
LOUD (how many adults complained of ringing ears? aware of how much more damaging that can be the younger you are?)
Scantily clad women (your mileage may vary on the appropriateness of that)
People dressed as horror characters that could scare your child.
And all for a living organism that doesn’t yet have the ability to absorb what is going on and is basically being dragged around the con as so much luggage. Sorry, but taking a child that can’t even figure out what is going on around them brought by their parent? It’s just selfishness from yet another parent that feels they are entitled to living their life the same way they did before having a child. Just like the parents who take their baby to a 9pm showing of an R-rated flick.
Yeah, but this is more about people getting cheesed off at people for their strollers. In a movie people get cheesed because babies cry through the movie. That’s understandable. A convention is a public gathering, where everyone is talking. Parents are the only people qualified to know if their kids will be upset by it. Again, you’re judging the parents without having the first clue about child raising. Trust me. If you don’t have a kid (and I’m not talking about being an uncle or an aunt) you have no way over ever coming close to knowing. So, I’m sorry, but I find the movie comparison week and off base.
> “But to bring a tiny baby in a stroller to a crowded event when they can’t even comprehend or participate in it is not ONLY idiotic but displays poor parenting skills.”
That is probably the most ‘tard thing I’ve read all week.
1. When my daughter was 8 months old, I took her to the grocery store. Yes, even though she had no idea why we were there or where we were. Shockingly enough, she didn’t even participate in what brand of cereal I bought either.
No one at the grocery store would have thought I was a poor parent for doing so.
2. The only people who have ever been bumped by our stroller in the past 3 years I’ve attended Comic-Con with my daughter, where folks who were walking in one direction while staring the opposite way. Or just suddenly stopped in the middle of a walkway.
3. My daughter is 3 1/2, she remembers Comic-Con enough from last year that she was looking forward to this one for weeks when we mentioned we were going. She said that she wanted to see Batman because he’s nice and “likes hugs”, but didn’t want to see Vader because he is a grump and she did not want to hug him.
Just tonight actually, she was talking to a family friend all about her experience. Especially how neat it was to meet Snoopy… and that she wanted to bring her lightsaber but couldn’t find it in the house before we left.
So, maybe not an 8 month old, but she got a lot out of it.
Oh yeah,… and her favorite comics are “Owly” and “Mickey Mouse”.
What do I need to know about parenting (that you assume I don’t) to understand that an environment that leaves adult ears ringing is not the best place to bring a child? That’s before even getting to how it seems to be a germ factory, based on all the people who return sick. ;)
And parents with babies still try to attend panels…where the crying baby comes into play. But even outside from there, it’s hard to equate the noise from general conversation with that of crying babies. 1) Wailing babies are a more jarring sound than conversation and 2) conversations have some value.
“What do I need to know about parenting (that you assume I don’t) to understand that an environment that leaves adult ears ringing is not the best place to bring a child?”
As any parent will say, I can’t tell you that. Being a parent is such a potent experience it can’t be described. If you did know it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. As for ears ringing; I’ve never had that problem. You’re the first to ever bring it up in my experience. Kids seem to handle that sort of thing better then adults, anyway.
Mr. Moonlight,
Like most parents you seem to suffer from a certain delusion. You seem to be beyond help.
I stand corrected about the strollers. Maybe it’s a different convention that bans them. However, quibble all you like about what “oversized” means. I don’t even think anyone owns anything smaller than Tank-sized anymore.
I believe people mostly have a problem with some–not all–parents who bring their kids with them in giant strollers and cause problems. I still believe kids small enough to require a stroller shouldn’t be at Comic-Con. It’s no big deal to bump into someone if you happen to be distracted while crossing the convention floor, but if you run into a stroller, suddenly you’re evil incarnate. What if that guy would have been carrying freshly purchased coffee and it fell all over your kid? The fact remains that Comic-Con isn’t a safe place for kids, sadly, and parents who continue to bring them are displaying a lack of parenting skills. Accusing someone of not having a kid therefor not knowing what it’s like lends no validity to your argument, and only cements your position as self-important. “Children are by no means defenseless while their parents are around. ” Yes, they are, and your inability to realize this only helps prove my points.
I now want to address this comment “1. When my daughter was 8 months old, I took her to the grocery store. Yes, even though she had no idea why we were there or where we were. Shockingly enough, she didn’t even participate in what brand of cereal I bought either.
No one at the grocery store would have thought I was a poor parent for doing so.”
In order to make this a valid comparison, you would have had to take your kid to a major store like (Wal-mart, circuit city, or best buy) during a day-after-Thanksgiving sale. You can’t really believe a grocery store is equivalet to Comic-Con.
But someone could spill coffee on you or your kid, anywhere, any day of the week. No one is truly safe anywhere. That should not stop people from taking their kids out to experience the world from a very early age on. Those who do leave their kids at home a lot, often have kids with trouble dealing with social situations later on in their childhood. That’s not what this is really about, anyway. Like I said before, this is about people not liking to wait for strollers to go by at comic cons. I think it’s you who are beyond help. The only reason I bother writing back at you is because I’m kind of having fun bantering with people who think they’re making good points, when… well, their just not.
…and so others will read this stuff and think about sharing the space we all live in with others. If you’re walking with a hot coffee and not looking where you’re going, you’re a hazard to yourself and others, and should be punished in full by whatever parent you offend.
Dear Unpopular,
By they way, I’m a different “Christopher” than “Christopher Moonlight”.
I made the “grocery store” analogy in regard to your argument that they didn’t get anything out of being there, hence the “So what comic books does your 8 month old read?”
There really isn’t much danger when you are smart about how/where you take your kid on the convention floor. The first thing you learn when you’ve got a stroller is: “Big congested crowd = turn down a less crowded aisle and find a better way.” Perhaps there are some who would try to face the crush of people, but to make a blanket assumption that every parent would do so, is just… well… wrong.
I respect your opinion that Comic-Con may not be a safe place for kids. However I think the Comic-Con organizers seem to disagree. After all, they actually consider Sunday to officially (check your program) be “Kids day”. With kid oriented programming and events abound.
And for the record, I never take my daughter to movie theaters. When we want to catch a first run movie, we hit up the drive-in. Being inside your car, and making sure not to park next to people is a good way to enjoy a movie with a young one and not disturb others. We occassionally bring DVDs and a laptop computer in case she loses interest in the movie. (She liked Iron Man whenever he was in the armor, otherwise she watched Chicken Little while laying on the back seat.)
Look, I don’t like a squalling kid at the movies or on an airplane any more than anyone else, but there are different levels here. Every new parent of my acquaintance quickly learns that going to the movies for the next few years is going to be a rare and special treat.
I don’t like a crying infant on a plane, but my ears hurt like hell too, and I refuse to insist that people with babies travel cross country by covered wagon.
What I *don’t* like is when some pampered brat keeps kicking my seat repeatedly, and the parents do nothing to control or reprimand their child. We all see this kind of thing all the time, and it is obnoxious and dangerous.
Generally speaking when my friends and family members have kids, those kids become part of my social circle, from the time they are tiny babies. Of course parents like to get away from the kids from time to time, but children are people too, and some are great and some stink.
The argument here isn’t against well-behaved parents and well-adjusted children — the kind of child exemplified by everyone posting in this thread, I am certain! — but with obnoxious parents and wild, undisciplined children. They are a pain in the ass at Comic-Con and they are a pain in the ass at Wal-Mart. Enforcing some kind of blanket child ban is just petty.
Ban the blanket children!
Tom is right. Down with blanket children!
Mr. Moonlight,
I am making good points, and you’re just refusing to notice.
“But someone could spill coffee on you or your kid, anywhere, any day of the week.”
I knew you were going to say that. The idea is to not put your child in places where it would be MORE likely to end up in situations like that. One of those places is Comic-Con.
“Those who do leave their kids at home a lot, often have kids with trouble dealing with social situations later on in their childhood.”
..and you know this from your years as a child psychologist?
“Like I said before, this is about people not liking to wait for strollers to go by at comic cons. I think it’s you who are beyond help.”
If people can wait for an exceedingly long train to pass, I’m sure a stroller isn’t that big of a deal. That’s just what you’re focusing on. I made no specific mention of “having to wait for a stroller to go by”, but maybe someone else did. Complaining about strollers isn’t directed at one specific thing a stroller or parent with a stroller does. Some parents use them inappropriately, and are careless in their operation and look at everyone else as if they’re the problem if something happens. I’m a courteous individual, and I have no problem waiting for people–with or without strollers–to pass before I’m clear to walk. I personally have no stake in whether there are strollers at the convention or not. I still think it’s a poor parenting decision, and the only reason I’m bothering to respond to you is that I would hate for your poor kid to have to suffer for those decisions. (and by the way, I don’t believe you’re making any good points either.)
The other christopher,
I knew you weren’t the same guy, but I neglected to note that in my response. Sorry about that.
“I made the “grocery store” analogy in regard to your argument that they didn’t get anything out of being there, hence the “So what comic books does your 8 month old read?””
That was someone else’s argument, but it’s one I agreed with. Children that young probably get the same thing out of the grocery store and Comic-Con, so why not stick to the grocery stores where it’s safer for them? Probably because it’s the parent who wants to say they brought their kid to Comic-Con, and so they can show pictures of their kid at Comic-Con to other people. This supports the self-important classification of those parents (which isn’t directed at anyone specifically and it’s a sentence which started with “PROBABLY”, so keep that in mind when you–not you specifically, christopher–flame me for it.) Your other comments were appreciated, but I laughed at the “kids day” comment because Comic-Con hasn’t seemed kid-friendly to me in the last 5 years despite what the program says. Heroes Con, however, IS a kid-friendly convention start to finish and especially so on Sunday. Parents, bring your giant strollers and kids to Heroes Con. (I wonder if Heroes Con people will be pissed off at me for saying that.)
The Beat said, “I don’t like a crying infant on a plane, but my ears hurt like hell too, and I refuse to insist that people with babies travel cross country by covered wagon.”
There are these things called “trains” now. I understand your point, but how often is it deathly important to travel with an infant across the country? Probably more often than I would think, but there are alternatives to air travel. Also, crying kids on a plane don’t bother me all that much, but I do question the parents for forcing that travel on the kid.
I believe kids requiring a stroller, shouldn’t go to Comic-Con. I don’t know if they should be banned, but I question the parenting decision to bring them to the show. Strollers–with or without passenger–shouldn’t be anywhere on the convention floor, and I do believe they should be banned from the floor only due to the complete insanity of what goes on down there. Yes, parents can avoid said insanity, but that doesn’t prevent the insanity from coming to them. Having or not having a kid doesn’t sway my opinion on this topic, and I haven’t had any problems with this in the past so I’m not motivated by any personal bias. This has just been what I think and feel about this topic and the individuals it represents.
I’m just shaking my head at this point.
DON’T LET YOUR BABY SEE THIS NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT.
“I’m just shaking my head at this point. ”
are your fingers in your ears, and are you saying “LA LA LA LA LA” very loudly as well?
It’s easier to ignore a reasonable argument and continue thinking you’re right if you do it that way.
Unpopular, are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that families with small children should only travel by train? Or not travel with their children? That’s insane. Have you heard of a thing called Thanksgiving? Or Christmas? Or “travel” at all?
Hence the head shaking.
“It’s easier to ignore a reasonable argument and continue thinking you’re right if you do it that way.”
It would seem you know all about ignoring reasonable arguments, wouldn’t it. Heidi, I’m hugging you mentally right now. Thanks for helping me stick up for families and their right to exist everywhere that everyone else does. I’m only sorry you didn’t get to meet my daughter again this year. You’ll love her when you do. I’ll be posting photos of what a good time she had at Comic Con quite soon.
Incidentally, plugging my ears with my fingers does not impede my ability to read, only type. :)
“are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that families with small children should only travel by train? Or not travel with their children?”
Yes.
“That’s insane.”
Nope.
“Have you heard of a thing called Thanksgiving? Or Christmas? Or “travel” at all?”
Overrated.
“It would seem you know all about ignoring reasonable arguments, wouldn’t it.”
Nope. I address them. You haven’t offered any. You’ve offered nothing but self-importance as your defense for HAVING to take your kid everywhere. Classic obnoxious parent.
“Thanks for helping me stick up for families and their right to exist everywhere that everyone else does.”
I’m sure we’ll be seeing you with your kid at the strip clubs with Mr. Templesmith and clan.
“I’ll be posting photos of what a good time she had at Comic Con quite soon.”
That’s just gas.
“Incidentally, plugging my ears with my fingers does not impede my ability to read, only type. ”
No one said you couldn’t read; only reason.
I seriously don’t give a crap what you do. No matter what Tom Spurgeon thinks or how insane Heidi believes I am I know my argument was sound, and reasonable parents will accept it. Lots of people will hate you and your kid–with good reason–because you’re a self-important parent (or at least you play one on the internet) who doesn’t care how much of an inconvenience you’re being to everyone else , and if you believe the convention floor is a safe place for your kid, then you’re just hopelessly naive.
Parents are the ones forcing their kids into planes and onto the convention floor, and they’re the ones who should be blamed. So, yes, if it takes official rules to keep stupid parents from putting their kids in jeopardy, then so be it. Either way, I really don’t care, but when something happens to your kid at Comic-Con and you hear someone yelling “I TOLD YOU SO” from across the hall, think of me because that person probably agrees with me. It won’t be me because I’ll be too busy jumping from stroller to stroller trying to get a ginormous Watchmen bag.
AND NOW, IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, MY BULLHORN AND I ARE OFF TO CHUCK E. CHEESE.
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