Dead Smurfs and camel toads
I found this really upsetting picture at work today. Some crazy Unicef person came up with the idea of blowing up the Smurf village in advertising to teach children about the horrors of war. First of all, do children really need to be educated about such harsh realities? I think campaigning should be aimed at adults, the ones who create and support war; not the children
who are already psychologically disturbed by the ills of the world.But I'm not trying to get into a political argument, I'm just mad somebody hurt the Smurfs! Why them? They are an '80s symbol -- kids today can't even relate! And they were peace-loving peoply-thingies. All they wanted to do was live and be happy and not get eaten by Azreal. Why not kill off the Power Rangers or Barney? Who wouldn't want to see that fat purple dinosaur bleed? I could even deal with dead Ninja Turtles (although they were my personal faves growing up). Anyhow, my point is, this ad made me sad and I wanted to share it with some of you other '80s babies who might be equally appalled.
Next, just for the sheer hilarity of it, I'm going to repost an article a co-worker passed on to me. This appeared in an actual newspaper in their "Ask Leslie" section. I couldn't find the copy of the article online again, but I found the text. Enjoy!
Scouting for ‘camel toads' at pool nothing to be concerned about -- Jun. 15, 2005
Q. I hope you can help me with a problem I have with my godson. Last summer he visited me for two weeks and plans to return in July. When cleaning out the room he stays in, I found an unfinished correspondence to a chum of his in his hometown. In it he says he going to our local pool to “scout out some camel toads.” (I believe that's what it said, he had spilled iced tea all over the desk when writing it, and it damaged a lot of papers.) I'm concerned he is doing drugs.
I tried to look for camel toads in a drug book, and I didn't find them, but I found references to some type of frog or toad that people in another country lick to hallucinate. I don't want to approach him on this until I have more information.He is a good boy in middle school whose parents do not even drink. Please let me know what camel toads are and how I might be able to tell if he is smoking, taking or licking them.
Perhaps I should have talked to his parents, but I don't want to jump the gun. Is this something the local authorities need to be alerted to in order to protect other patrons at the pool or surrounding area?
A concerned and uninformed reader
A. The iced tea did a number on the toads, so my younger, hipper coworkers tell me. What he undoubtedly wrote was “camel toes,” a crude euphemism for, well, too-tight pants worn by females. The good news is that the expression has absolutely nothing to do with drugs. It has everything to do with why teenage boys go to the pool in the first place.
Leslie Potter is on the staff of the Hays Public Library, which sponsors this column on Wednesdays and Fridays. Write her at the library at 1205 Main, Hays, KS 67601, or e-mail her at lpotter@fhsu.edu.
posted by This one time . . . @ 11:12 PM
2 Comments:
That's hilarious... the article, that is. It almost sounds fabricated. Makes me wonder what kind of crazy letters I could write in to "Dear Whomever" and get them published--just to see the looks on people's faces when they read them.
As for the Smurfs, that's slightly disturbing. I agree, why pick on them? What do kids have to do with war? Hell, what do most adults have to do with war? Even if I was in the Army--what are they trying to convey? "Don't go to work today! War is bad!" It's not like I'd have much of a choice at that point.
Toad article. I honestly believe some people are that out-of-touch. Sad.
Post a Comment
<< Home