Are we a nation of idiots?

I was watching a little TV last night -- correction: I was looking for something to watch on TV last night -- and saw a Toyota commercial for the Rav, I think. The vehicle's driving through a city and passes some big orange traffic cones, and suddenly they start chasing it, racing after it, blocking streets to force it to turn where they want it to.

And across the bottom in small print appears the line, "Closed course. Do not attempt." (Or something similar.)

Hmm. Okay. So if big orange traffic cones start chasing me through the streets, I shouldn't try to get away????

I was still puzzling over that one when another truck commercial came on. This one is filmed in a big hangar-sort of building, and they have a winch hooked up to a semi, and this pickup drives across the floor and winches the semi ten feet up into the air so the pickup can park underneath it.

And across the bottom appears the line, "Do not attempt."

Darn. There goes my Saturday afternoon's activity.

I know, I know, we are a nation of idiots. I heard some industry expert talking about the jillion warning labels that appear everywhere, and he said if there's a label warning against something on the product, then someone in this country has tried to do it. Anyone who has to be told not to stick his hands or feet under a lawn mower while it's running or not to use a hair dryer in the shower deserves whatever happens to him. (As long as it's not suing and getting rich for being stupid.)

I'm going back to work, where *I* control the world. I like it that way. Rachel7:56 AM