Getting lots of play in the news the past couple of days is the story of the 6-year-old Colorado boy who was thought to have been in the compartment of a runaway weather balloon, resulting in a major search as well as the temporary shutdown of the Denver airport. As it turns out, he was hiding in the rafters of the garage the entire time.
Once again, our tax dollars were at work as military helicopters chased the balloon across two counties. Plans were being considered to have either someone lowered onto the balloon or to somehow place weights on it and force it down. Shooting it down was not an option, since that would have been placed its supposed passenger at great risk.
When asked why he was hiding in the garage and did not respond when he heard his parents yelling his name, the boy said it was because he thought they "did this for a show." No one seems quite sure what the comment meant, though the father said that his son was just confused by the question.
Confused or not, the boy and the rest of the family were on the "reality" show, Wife Swap, and he may well have thought this had something to do with it. According to the AP news report, the program promoted the family as storm chasers who also spend time searching for extraterrestrials.
Given their inability to locate their own son in their garage, any Martians hiding in their neighborhood have nothing to worry about.
Or perhaps the parents put their child up to it to get publicity. They were on Wife Swap not once, but twice.
ReplyDeleteOn Wife Swap twice? It probably makes the boy wonder when HE'S going to be on Kid Swap... after all, if Mommy got thrown out of the house - twice - then how long does HE have before they send HIM to another family?
ReplyDeleteThis is completely irresponsible on the parent's part, and why is their first worry that the kid might be in the balloon WHEN THEY HAVE NOT YET SEARCHED EVERY SQUARE INCH OF THEIR HOME?
I know that no one remembers what it was like to be a child, and scared that they might be next to get sent away, but c'mon! You don't need Sherlock Holmes or Perry Mason to figure that one out!!! LOOK for the kid! Don't assume he's on the balloon!
I remain,
Sincerely,
Eric L. Sofer
x<]:o){
The Bad Clown...
in retrospect, since our taxpayer dollars were already at work, it might've been worth it to have shot the balloon down...
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