# Febrantary (February Minirants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286 "2014-02-01T17:24:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/501 "2014-02-27T16:18:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I was kind of expecting to see part of the rant including the people who don’t vaccinate who are causing whooping cough to come back into the general population. I can _always_ spare some extra ire for those selfish assholes. Oh, I agree - I think there’s a special place in hell for Jenny McCarthy and her ilk. And I sure the heck don’t think the vaccine was in vain - anything that makes this illness shorter is gold. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/502 "2014-02-27T16:50:29Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > God fucking damn it. One of my step-daughters has asked for “Prayers for my daddy because he started chemo again”. AFTER I made a private group for all of our kids and siblings. Because HE DOESN’T WANT HIS CHEMO INFORMATION POSTED TO FACEBOOK WHERE ANYONE CAN SEE IT!!! Which I put in my opening post, and then pinned it. :mad: > > I’ve sent her a PM to take it down, but the damage is already done. > > Shit. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: I have a friend who was 4 weeks pregnant. Her husband told his mother WHO POSTED IT ON FACEBOOK! She had a miscarriage and now has to deal with it being out there. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/503 "2014-02-27T17:17:38Z")
> [@Boggette](#): > > I once gave my daughter too much cold medicine. Made the same mistake he did. Scared the crap outta me. Poison control told me the same thing you were told… That kid’s meds are very hard to OD on and that she’d probably just sleep it off. Except for ones with acetaminophen/paracetamol, that is. Tylenol, until extremely recently, used to produce their Infant Tylenol in a more concentrated dose than their Children’s Tylenol, probably to make it easier to get a baby to swallow it. The labels said “check with your doctor for dosage for children under 2” on the Children’s formula. Deaths occurred when people would give their toddlers a child-sized dose of the concentrated Infant formulation. It always pays to be careful with acetaminophen, as a relatively small overdose can do terrible things to the liver. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/504 "2014-02-27T18:02:34Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > … Lately, if she doesn’t do them soon enough, either my husband or I do them… Found yer problem right there. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/505 "2014-02-27T18:33:01Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Oh, I agree - I think there’s a special place in hell for Jenny McCarthy and her ilk. And I sure the heck don’t think the vaccine was in vain - anything that makes this illness shorter is gold. Part of the problem is that we really need a better pertussis vaccine or at the very least booster shots for older kids: > **[Shooting the Wheeze: Whooping Cough Vaccine Falls Short of Previous Shot’s...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whooping-cough-vaccine-falls-short-of-previous-shots-protection/)** > > Long considered a conquered childhood disease, pertussis has made a comeback in the U.S., in part because the combination vaccine, DTap, appears less effective than its predecessor, DTP ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/506 "2014-02-27T19:03:38Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Rant 2 (much longer): > > I think my daughter has whooping cough. . How old is she? Did she not get her vaccination? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/507 "2014-02-27T19:38:31Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > How old is she? Did she not get her vaccination? She’s 4. And yeah, she did get vaccinated. My understanding is that that luckily means that the duration of her illness will be shorter. There have been a couple of other kids in her classroom with whooping cough recently, so likely that’s where she got it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/508 "2014-02-27T19:46:17Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Found yer problem right there. Concur. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/509 "2014-02-27T21:29:04Z")
Not a rant, but - I thought of a title for next month’s rants thread: “The Rants Came Marching One By One.” I hope this month’s thread title was okay. It was the wittiest thing I could think of in, what, 30 seconds of thinking. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/510 "2014-02-27T21:39:31Z")
Works for me ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/511 "2014-02-27T21:45:18Z")
This is as good a place as any for a bit of self-pity. As a preamble, I’m feeling fairly miserable anyway due to the weather and the crap I’m doing in the lab, but that’s not what this is about. But it probably is contributing. Anyway, I just watched a trailer for the new Muppet movie, which stirred up quite a bit of nostalgia. I loved the Muppets when I was a kid. And now, as a father, I should be excited to share them with my own children - that’s certainly what was on my mind as I watched the trailer. But the thing is that my oldest daughter, who is a sweet, kind, gentle, happy kid and generally wonderful, is also autistic. And what I ended up thinking about was the basic fact that I don’t know if she’ll ever pick up enough language to appreciate something like a Muppet movie. That kind of humor, I think, might always be beyond her grasp. And that made me kind of depressed. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/512 "2014-02-27T21:50:37Z")
There’s bourbon and maple syrup in my coffee. Ah, that’s better. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/513 "2014-02-27T21:52:03Z")
Children grow up, they learn. I don’t think autism is a death sentence to a life of not knowing the world. Perhaps I’m wrong, I hope not. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/514 "2014-02-27T21:56:09Z")
She might; she might not. It’s that uncertainty that is sometimes difficult. Most parents\* can feel pretty confident saying, “She’s too young to get it now, but someday she will.” It’s the “maybe” that I have to add that gets to me now and then. \*And yes, I know that “most” is not “all”, and that there are many parents who would dearly love their children to be as healthy and sound as mine is. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/515 "2014-02-27T21:56:33Z")
**EmilyG** , I like it! But it’s way too earl— aw, crap. **Smeghead** , may your daughter grow up into a “sweet, kind, gentle, happy … and generally wonderful” adult. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/516 "2014-02-27T23:58:43Z")
This might be more of a self-pitting, because in hindsight, I really should’ve known better. The mom of one of my best friends made a Facebook post calling out NBC b/c during the Olympics, commentators made a statement about how one of the athletes is married, has a kid, goes to church, etc. They said it was an “alternative lifestyle.” My friend’s mom was up in arms about that, stating how NBC and other liberal organizations are godless, anti-American, puppy-killers, etc. (Maybe not “puppy-killers”, but she did use the term “hippies.”) Soon, this post becomes an echo chamber about evil liberals and all that, with Bible verses being quoted in the thread. (I did learn that Obama is secretly running the network, so there’s that.) Stupidly, I commented, saying that compared to how young most of the Olympic athletes are, his lifestyle probably _is_ alternative to theirs. (Other people were equating “alternative lifestyle” to “gay and other evil things.”) So, in my comment, I said, by that logic, “Nirvana” and other “alternative rock” groups promote a liberal agenda. This was all stuff I said yesterday. I check FB today, and see a notification in the thread. Comments had been made. I was curious, so I went to look. She deleted my comment. This woman was like a second mother to me when I was growing up and we still keep in touch on a regular basis, so, a little disappointed in this action, I make a single follow-up comment of “Hmm. I could’ve sworn I commented in this thread. Odd.” Admittedly, passive aggressive, but I expected better from her than to remove any voice of dissent. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/517 "2014-02-28T01:46:54Z")
So, I had to drive out to Michigan. Took three days to do it, but my back still got pissed off. Finally got near Grand Rapids and it is dark snowing very windy. Do Not Like. Crawled into town and to my motel. Thought I got frostbite on one ear when I took the dog to go potty. Ya know, I used to live in this stuff but I was younger then - how do older folks deal with this?? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/518 "2014-02-28T01:52:31Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Ya know, I used to live in this stuff but I was younger then - how do older folks deal with this?? For starters, they cover their ears outside. Sounds like you’re not dressed properly as you would have dumped your “real weather” gear long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/519 "2014-02-28T03:03:08Z")
Anti-rant: I have counters! I have a kitchen sink, with running water! I have a dishwasher! The oven will be in tomorrow, and the stove only awaits the gas company dude to hook it up! Teeny little rant: my sink is too small. It looked fine in the store and in the box, but it’s just too small. But heck, it’s a sink. I’ll replace it eventually. I’m so happy that I’m not washing dishes in the bathtub tonight!!! ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286/520 "2014-02-28T03:23:54Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > For starters, they cover their ears outside. Sounds like you’re not dressed properly as you would have dumped your “real weather” gear long ago. I did bring ear cover, but was too brain dead from the drive last night to get it out of the suitcase. I did this morning tho! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/febrantary-february-minirants/680286.md?page=27)