# I hate this product and, **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408 "2005-11-30T17:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/101 "2005-12-02T20:25:38Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > Most of these parents are younger than I am and I am appalled at their cluelessness. I don’t want to even think about what the world will be like when their indulged, protected, pampered children take over. Years ago, my wife was invited to take our youngest (then about 4 yrs old) to a gathering of moms and kids. While there, she mentioned that she had the latest Disney video out in the car if anyone wanted to watch it. One of the moms said, “Oh, no. We don’t watch Disney videos. After the children watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ they needed weeks of play therapy to get over the evil sea witch.” My wife was about to start laughing when she realized the woman was serious. I worry about those children. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/102 "2005-12-02T20:37:20Z")
A **Princess Leia** pinata? (I’d hit that) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/103 "2005-12-02T20:37:57Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Years ago, my wife was invited to take our youngest (then about 4 yrs old) to a gathering of moms and kids. While there, she mentioned that she had the latest Disney video out in the car if anyone wanted to watch it. One of the moms said, “Oh, no. We don’t watch Disney videos. After the children watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ they needed weeks of play therapy to get over the evil sea witch.” > > My wife was about to start laughing when she realized the woman was serious. I worry about those children. Oh my. How in the world did we all survive a childhood filled with Grimm’s Fairy Tales? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/104 "2005-12-02T20:58:38Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Years ago, my wife was invited to take our youngest (then about 4 yrs old) to a gathering of moms and kids. While there, she mentioned that she had the latest Disney video out in the car if anyone wanted to watch it. One of the moms said, “Oh, no. We don’t watch Disney videos. After the children watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ they needed weeks of play therapy to get over the evil sea witch.” > > My wife was about to start laughing when she realized the woman was serious. I worry about those children. And I thought _I_ led a sheltered childhood. Good God. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/105 "2005-12-02T21:10:20Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I still don’t get this Pinata thing, must be some Murrican thing I guess. > > It all seems pointless, if you want sweets then go to the sweetshop and buy them, or get a relative to do it for a treat. > > What’s all this hitting and donkeys or horses and stuff all supposed to be about ? It’s a Mexican thing, actually. (Or maybe a Spanish thing. Do they have pinatas in Spain?) Structured violence and destruction, rewarded by processed sugar and empty calories. Pretty much everything that’s awesome about childhood all rolled into one. What’s not to get? Or are you still not clear on the mechanics of it all? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/106 "2005-12-02T21:28:03Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > Maybe they should amp up the violence by including a little speaker box inside. When hit it could say things like…“Ow!”, “Stop it!”, “You’re killing me!”, “That’s gonna leave a mark!”, etc… Ah, a Stanley Milgram piñata. One nitpick with the OP > [@](#): > > Oh wait, I forgot, We pussified Darth Vader so he isn’t a badass muther fucking-hand-chopping offing dude. He is just misunderstood and we let him talk about his feelings everything would be OK. Dude, even Satan got a backstory. Besides, we all know Vader was just a frail white guy in a suit representing the fact the deep down inside of all of us is a White guy. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/107 "2005-12-02T21:59:15Z")
> [@The Weird One](#): > > Fucking post-eating hamsters. Anyway, I was just saying that all is not lost! I don’t have kids yet, but if/when I do, there sure as hell won’t be any sissy pinatas or “everyone’s a winner!” games. What the hell fun’s a game without any competition? I bet those yuppie parents coo over every bruise, scratch and scrape their kids get, too. Damn, I always knew I was having a great summer if I was carrying around several scratches and bruises I couldn’t account for. And these are usually the people who have their kids scheduled in sports every free moment. How they get from Point A to Point B is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/108 "2005-12-02T22:10:23Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > … deep down inside of all of us is a White guy. With any luck there _will_ be this weekend… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/109 "2005-12-02T22:32:27Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > With any luck there _will_ be this weekend… That’s the funniest fucking thing I’ve seen all week. The prize goes to YOU! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/110 "2005-12-02T22:36:24Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Ah, a Stanley Milgram piñata. > > One nitpick with the OP > > Dude, even Satan got a backstory. Besides, we all know Vader was just a frail white guy in a suit representing the fact the deep down inside of all of us is a White guy. So let me get this straight–piñatas have something to do with gentrification? Now I’m really confused. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/111 "2005-12-02T22:37:11Z")
In the UK Pinata are almost unkown, I will be careful not to say completely unknown since someone will say their Spanish Aunt does it, or has one, or whatever it is. I suppose we Brits were too busy kicking French, Spanish and occasional sundry other butt about trying to build an empire to worry too much about hitting donkeys and throwing them off towers and the like. Are these Pinatas big, about how much weight in sweets do they take ? Do you eat them for some special day or some feast thing, come on, some of us need information here. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/112 "2005-12-02T23:21:39Z")
[Here’s](http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/insects/mspider-pinata.htm) instructions on how to make a spider pinata. Most of the ones you get from the store are, as someone said upthread, cardboard and not paper mache, and therefore don’t break too easily. Us Murkins have them at birthday parties; you fill them with candy (the storebought ones don’t hold much, but if you make it yourself you can pretty much make it any size), take turns whacking at it with a stick while blindfolded, and when it breaks there’s a mad scrabble for the goodies that come flying out. When you’re a little kid whacking at things with a stick is da bomb. Pulling pretty ribbons, meh, not so much. Although a little kid who can be traumitized by Ursula the sea-witch is probably a little kid who would pee his pants in fright when the pinata shatters. Jeez. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/113 "2005-12-02T23:22:30Z")
stupid hamsters, stepping on stupid posts From that link I posted: > [@](#): > > The pinata today is practiced as a Christian celebration in Latino cultures. It symbolizes the struggle of man and his faith. The traditional Mexican pinata looks like a sputnik with seven points that symbolize the seven deadly sins: greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, wrath and lust. The person attempting to break the pinata represents the good overcoming the evil. > > It was the Spanish conquistadors that were credited for bringing the pinata to Mexico. The Spanish missionaries used the pinata as a tool to help them get the attention of the indigenous people and convert them to Christainity. In Spain, the pinata was brightly colored so that it would grab the attention of a innocent person. The candies and fruit inside were seen as the temptations of the Devil. The blindfolded person hitting the pinata represented the “blind faith”, and the stick he/she was using represented “goodness”. After the pinata was finally broken, the candies gathered were seen as a “just reward”. The moral of their ceremony: “all are justified through faith”. Originally, the Spanish pinata was a clay container called “la olla” (pot) and was not decorated. Now, isn’t that a happy thing? I had no idea. It goes more like this here: Most of the people I know get them for their kids because it’s a fun birthday party activity that burns time, the kids get to whack something with a baseball bat and as mentioned earlier, the kid doing the whacking when it busts usually gets nothing because their blindfold is on and ends up crying and being consoled by the hosting mom (she’ll give him extra candy), thus teaching us about lust and greed and disappointment and redemption all at once. Voila! Instant moral. There are different sized pinatas, I think they hold about 5lbs worth of candy. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/114 "2005-12-03T00:28:29Z")
We had a pinata at one of our cousin’s parties, and they make those ribbon ones of strong material. The little kids took turns hitting it, but it never made a dent. Then the bigger kids tried and still no luck. Then us grown-ups started bashing the hell out of it, but it still never broke. Then someone noted the ribbons and pulled them. We simply had no idea the ribbons were supposed to be pulled. But a lot more people got to take turns hitting it (instead of breaking at the first good wallop), so now we get those every time. More violence=more fun! Those pinata makers are geniuses! ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/115 "2005-12-03T05:50:56Z")
> [@](#): > > **mobo85** wrote: > Just replace “I am a vampire” with “I hate this product.” (Warning: sound) Oh, Zebra, I pine for you! Heh heh. I thought the same thing. “That’s it? I hate this product and here’s a million dollars? Or, I hate this product and here’s a brand new spaceship?” ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/116 "2005-12-03T06:21:06Z")
> [@](#): > > **InvisibleWombat** wrote: > One of the moms said, “Oh, no. We don’t watch Disney videos. After the children watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ they needed weeks of play therapy to get over the evil sea witch.” Give them a ribbon-pull pinata filled with Cassie’s bloody body. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/117 "2005-12-03T07:10:44Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > With any luck there _will_ be this weekend… What can I say? I make a good straight man. 😉 > [@Not A Tame Lion](#): > > So let me get this straight–piñatas have something to do with gentrification? Now I’m really confused. Er, what? The OP mentioned the “pussification” of Vader. I noted that even the greatest villian in human history (no, not Lex Luthor, though he has a back story too now that I think about it) got a back story to explain why he is the way he is and kinda makes you feel sorry for the guy. That’s not pussification. That’s good storytelling and its’ been happening for thousands of years. Having a guy being evil–okay. Having a guy being evil and understanding why he’s evil and understanding that he’s trapped–classic. I then made a reference to “Chasing Amy” with the longing to be a White guy thing. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/118 "2005-12-03T07:18:08Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Years ago, my wife was invited to take our youngest (then about 4 yrs old) to a gathering of moms and kids. While there, she mentioned that she had the latest Disney video out in the car if anyone wanted to watch it. One of the moms said, “Oh, no. We don’t watch Disney videos. After the children watched ‘The Little Mermaid’ they needed weeks of play therapy to get over the evil sea witch.” > > My wife was about to start laughing when she realized the woman was serious. I worry about those children. Holy crap. I hope they don’t die from system shock once they leave for college. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/119 "2005-12-03T07:46:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > What’s wrong with saying “thank you” to Jared? _sigh_ Thank you for the over sized pants Jared. It was the best gift ever. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408/120 "2005-12-03T09:30:51Z")
> [@sneezy5660](#): > > Not necessarily. > > I hate to rain on the pile-on parade, but there is a good use for the ribbon pinatas. Handicapped kids sometimes can’t swing a stick hard enough to break the sucker, so they pull on the ribbons to get at the goodies. What? That’s not the _American_ way of dealing with adversity—if you can’t do something, you use an _overpowered machine_ to do the job as quickly and violently as possible! They should be grinding the paper-mache bastards to smoking pulp under the wheels of their electric wheelchairs! They could try hooking their little supplemental oxygen lines together into a crude flamethrower to BURN their way to the goods! Sheesh…people today. No ingenuity. No pride in accomplishment. No _style!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-product-and/333408.md?page=7)