Cult of the Child on NPR

I made the grave error of listening to ATC today (Tuesday Nov. 30th). I say that this is an error not because of the usual pro-state bias of the political coverage, nor because of the usual heap of logical errors which pass for the hailed arguments of those who present the most PC and emotive opinions. No, it was not for these reasons that I note the graveness of the error of listening on this day, but rather because of the level of absurdity that was once again raised even beyond it already nose-bleed loftiness.

I refer specifically to the story

Navigating the Pitfalls of Business Travel with Kids
in which Julie Zickefoose complains of the existence of places which are not "kid friendly." Is she really serious? She pretends that such places abound which simply begs us to ask where on earth she is going, and could she please provide a list of such places which respect the value of ALL people, not merely those with children?

We live in a culture and a time which has wholly bought into the cult of the child, where there can exist no sharp corners for fear that a child might discover the meaning of a right angle, and where individuals are wholly subservient to the whims of those who either are children, or have children, or fit into both groups at the same time. The effects are felt in every aspect of our lives (think of the political rhetoric to cease all discussion "what of the children?"), and every location as Ms Zickefoose demonstrated ironically by her very complaints, in which she noted that these environments were not suited for her children. Her attitude is sadly that which dominates this culture, where it is assumed that all things should be made to suit children, and of course those who make the choice to have children. Her comments indicated that she was put off that there exist places which do not cater to her and her children. Rather than to frequent the places that go out of their way to cater to children, and those who chose to have children, she instead chose to frequent a place that at she believed was not suited for children, almost as if she was simply trying to force them to deal with her and her children. This is akin to a christian going into a mosque and trying to make changes there. Or perhaps like a Klan member who goes in full regalia to an NAACP meeting...

Clearly Ms Zickefoose is sorely in need of some perspective. Desire does not convey rights. Her choice to have children does not convey ANY obligation on any other individual, other than to do no harm to the children. It behooves her, and any who buy into this cult of the child to remember this simple fact. How about we leave a few places, say nice restaurants to those who enjoy a nice meal, conversation, and the absence of inappropriate behavior? If we can do that, I promise to never go into Chuck E Cheese's and try to start an intelligent conversation or otherwise be well mannered..

And if NPR did not whole heartedly support such nonsense (in the literal sense of lacking reason) perhaps I would not be driven to turn the dial else turn off the radio.