Re: “Don’t judge screamers’ parents: Your day may come” (TNT, 5-9).
I know many folks won’t like hearing this, but I’ll bet others probably wish it had been said a long time ago: Your decision to have a child is your choice. Don’t impose your inability to deal with the consequences on others.
Whatever you say about “accidents,” “my folks wanted grandchildren,” “it’s a biological mandate,” “it’s my right,” etc., you alone are responsible. Much of our trouble today stems from letting emotion supplant reason.
Having chosen to be childless, I find myself surrounded by a culture biased toward those who decide otherwise. Before branding me as intolerant, consider: Singles pay much higher income tax rates thanks to exemptions given others (particularly child tax credits); they pay for schools upon which they’ve placed no burden; and face the pressures of overpopulation through dwindling resources, traffic congestion, high housing costs, heavy competition for jobs and rising crime rates as government refuses to exert leadership on these issues.
I know and accept the responsibility society has for the well-being of new generations. But my patience isn’t infinite.
Just as you wouldn’t take a screamer into a movie theater, you are even more inconsiderate taking one into a crowded airplane. Plan on two or three years staying home with them or giving them a Benadryl if you don’t. Or expect dirty looks!
I would like to see public education require instruction in basic home finance and a brutally honest portrayal of what awaits someone considering becoming a parent.