Saturday, February 7, 2009

The hardest social problem I know

As humans, many of our problems are social. I want to share what I consider to be one of the most difficult problems I ever encountered as a parent. If you find a person who has humanely (or even inhumanely) solved this, I think you are in the presence of true social genius. The problem:

Get a junior high or high school girl to ride a bicycle to school wearing a bike helmet.

Many of us have found a way to get the girl on the bike, but I know of no way to get a helmet on that girl. Having perfect hair is just too important.

I also believe that these same girls show us the true limits of human endurance. Go to a cold climate and observe junior high students. Beanpole girls with negative body fat will have bare legs and light jackets at twenty below. They must be part hummingbird to have a metabolism that can heat a body in those conditions.

3 comments:

Masasa said...

You were probably more successful than you realized.

seppie said...

Maybe, maybe not. I used to ride away from the house with my helmet on, then stop and hang it off the handlebars for the rest of the way to school. And really, I don't think my hair looked so good that the helmet would have made a difference, anyway! That was just dumb! But then, I guess I've never been known for my good judgment...

Michael Gerety said...

Did you forget about "Rules Schmules?" I forgot, what is the social problem?