Daddy drinks because you won't die.

I often wonder why so many of the public are completely lacking in impulse control. Have we as a society removed so much consequence for our actions? Have we progressed to the point where it is no longer our personal responsibility to keep ourselves and others reasonably safe?

I've seen coins glittering at the bottom of pools in animal enclosures at zoos and aquariums, never mind it could harm the animal. There are warning labels on coffee cups because the average person can no longer be trusted to remember it is served hot. In some cases, they even put the creams and sugars in because the American public has demonstrated an inability to keep from sloshing scalding liquids on themselves or small children while retaining an uncanny knack for litigation.

And here?

Here I have to keep an eye open in case a group sees a flogger, because the very first thing they're going to do is pick it up and take a swing at someone. Gods forbid someone sustains an injury because Skippy put his arm into the blow, hits them with the handle, or delivers a tail or two to an eyeball. No one told them someone could actually be hurt by it. Obviously it needed to be "rendered safe" because they have a right to be perfectly safe regardless of how they use the object. I know damned well they're not going to feel a shred of responsibility if the toy is damaged.

Here I have to be vigilant in case someone takes an interest in a gag, because it seems that the very next thing that enters their brain after "Oh, wow, a gag." is "I must put it in my mouth." No, they don't want to actually buy it, they just want to see how it looks/fits.

Here I have to watch in case someone wants to investigate the liquid latex, because obviously the sealed top must be peeled back to allow them to take a lung full of ammonia and promptly begin choking as their mucus membranes dissolve.

Here I have to be prepared to intervene at any time because someone somewhere will invariably attempt to injure themselves or someone else in some brainless fashion or at the very least, destroy some portion of the store's merchandise.

I swear, it's like I have to ride herd on a bunch of sexually active toddlers some days. Don't lick that. Don't climb on the cases. Don't lean on the cases. Don't eat that. Don't open that. Don't open your fly.

Whey-pated lackwits all.