Play is the work of children, and it is serious work indeed!

I was recently talking to a father with children similar in age to my own. We were discussing the 55 inch Mitsubishi 1080i Rear Projection TV that we both have in common. We both agreed that the TV was great for what it was, considering I've had mine for roughly 10 years and what's available now.

One thing led to another and the next thing I know this guy is taking some serious pot-shots at the engineers at Mitsubishi for "designing a TV with buttons so close to the ground that kids can play with them". He was, of course, referencing his kids who are apparently messing with the buttons constantly. He went on to say that he would "never buy another Mitsubishi TV again because of these "idiot" engineers and that damned design problem".

Feeling sorry for the kids, I replied that what he was experiencing with his TV was NOT a design problem, it was a PARENTING problem.

I re-enforced my position by explaining that my kids learned very early on that touching the TV meant it got turned off and they were not allowed to watch it, so they didn't unless they asked. As he was trying to walk away and ignore me, I offered some fleeting advice that he let his kids learn a little bit about things like that and let them interact on occasion and they won't be so "curious" about it.

As you can imagine, I probably won't be spending time chatting with him next time we're at the park together with our kids.