I don't understand the objection to a middle ground approach here, but if that's what we want then screw it.

You can't have it both ways that you don't want a child next to you and just expect parents to spend extra money to accommodate you.

Easily pay? I assure you it isn't easy for a lot of us. The irony of your use of entitlement.

Tough luck then buddy. Have fun with the kids.

There has to be some kind of middle ground here, imo. Nobody wants to sit next to kids. Families don't want to be penalized financially anymore than they already are for providing a benefit to society. We don't need to further disincentivize families and further our declining birth rates. At the same time it's wildly unfair to ask people to switch seats when they've paid for them (or even if they haven't).

(to be clear, I don't do this personally and pay extra to sit together but I do hope people start parking their kids all over the plane since that's what we all seem to want! It's tempting.)

In all seriousness I understand your point but I think it's worth considering that you're also applying social pressure.

I couldn't guess if it did well commercially, but I know I wasn't the only kid that had it.

Could you point me to that information?

It features a panda named Stillwater who tells this story (among others) in it.

- Change your mind when new information is given, that is thinking for yourself.

- Don't change it too much, that is not thinking for yourself.

- Not changing your mind is also not thinking for yourself.

Like I say, I agree with you but the nuance here is difficult to explain.

It isn't but I think it can be. In my rural part of the southeast I see more and more people making better food choices (myself included). Maybe the person interviewed is taking the long view of that trend.

I worked jobs around the neighborhood at 12 but that's obviously a lot easier than 10 hour shifts in a field (as the article suggests). I don't know what's right and I'm thankful I don't have to make the decisions.

Our version:

There was once a boy that was born with a golden screw where his belly button should be. This made him very self-conscious about it. The kids at school would tease him about his golden screw and lack of belly button. It was so bad that he didn't want to remove his shirt when swimming.

One day his class took a field trip to the beach. The boy didn't want to remove his shirt, so he walked along the beach kicking the sand. He was very sad. Suddenly, his foot hurt from kicking something hard in the sand. He looked down and discovered a golden screwdriver.

His eyes brightened and he felt this must be some divine intervention. He immediately removed his shirt, grabbed the golden screwdriver and began to carefully unscrew the golden screw. This was the moment. He unscrewed it and finally this golden screw that had cursed him his whole life came out then his butt fell off.