Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
The Crusade Against Playground Predators With Sugar-Filled Treats
The New
York Times
reports that "parents" (at least three!) are "irate" about ice
cream trucks. Evidently they are not too fond of snow cone
pushcarts either. Because her 3-year-old daughter once "had an
inconsolable meltdown about not being able to have a treat,"
Brooklyn mother Vicki Sell has gone on a rampage against the
guys selling fruit-flavored ices at the local playground, demanding
that the city shut them down. "It's really predatory for them," she
tells the Times, "to be right inside the playground
like this." She'd go after nearby ice cream trucks as well,
but "since they are licensed, there is not much she can do
about them."
Sell insists, "I'm not a health freak by any means." (Does anyone who is not a health freak ever say that?) "I notice what happens to my daughter when she eats these sugar-filled things with all these additives," she explains. If only there were some way to prevent little Katherine from eating "these sugar-filled things" without banning them altogether. Sell wants us to know she is not a mean person. "I feel kind of bad about having developed this attitude," she says. Probably not as bad as the men whose livelihoods she's trying to ruin because she's afraid to say no to a 3-year-old.
Abdul|8.20.09 @ 11:45AM|#
The NYT will always have it's finger on the pulse of the most neurotic yuppie parents.
|8.20.09 @ 11:47AM|#
First they came for the see-saws. Then they came for the merry-go-rounds. Then they came for helmet-free bike-riding. Now they're after the ice cream trucks. Why do these parents hate for their kids to have fun?
Franklin Harris|8.20.09 @ 11:49AM|#
I swear to Cthulhu, 99 percent of this planet had better be glad I haven't learned how to kill people with my mind... yet.
Sean Healy|8.20.09 @ 11:49AM|#
I love the folk legend that 'additives' and sugar cause hyperactivity. Unless your kid has diabetes or some other metabolic problem, excess sugar will not make them 'hyper'. It will be stored as glycogen for their next marathon. The body treats a baked potato the same way.
|8.20.09 @ 11:52AM|#
My ward here in Chicago (the 19th) bans ice cream trucks. I suppose when you've already banned guns, drugs, spray paint, little baggies, smoking in restaurants, booze (restaurants east of Western have to be dry) and aluminum bats (okay, that last one's just a proposal at this point), what's the big deal in adding one more to the list?
|8.20.09 @ 11:53AM|#
"Because her 3-year-old daughter once "had an inconsolable
meltdown about not being able to have a treat," Brooklyn mother
Vicki Sell has gone on a rampage against the guys selling
fruit-flavored ices at the local playground,"
Because God forbid she teach her three year old to act like
anything but a poorly trained ape. And God forbid that anyone ever
teach a child that sometimes life isn't fair. For these reasons all
children and adults must be derpived of the pleasure that is an ice
cream truck. I really hate some people.
T|8.20.09 @ 11:53AM|#
This is going on in my neighborhood. The residents are arguing
about ice cream trucks, with the more clever nannies arguing it
violates the neighborhood "No Soliciting" policy. My favorite
stupid argument? "Do you want a stranger giving food to your kids?"
What, like you run a fucking background check on every restaurant
employee that hands you food? Or the kitchen staff that prepared
it? Please. A prepackaged frozen treat is probably 100x safer than
Jack-In-the-Box.
I'm growing to hate my neighbors. I'm finally accepting the fact I
need to move to a bunker in the country where my disdain and
general loathing of humanity can fester in peace.
<strike>strike through</strike|8.20.09 @ 11:55AM|#
Sean Healy | August 20, 2009, 11:49am | #
[E]xcess sugar will not make them 'hyper'. It will be stored as
glycogen for their next marathon. The body treats a baked potato
the same way.
Stop clouding the issue with inconvenient facts, Sean. It's for The
Children® goddammit!
Anonymous|8.20.09 @ 11:55AM|#
Because her 3-year-old daughter once "had an inconsolable meltdown about not being able to have a treat,"
I blame the ice-cream trucks, the MTV, and the video games for not
having brought up my child correctly!
Anomalous|8.20.09 @ 11:56AM|#
A child had a meltdown? Where is the government? Somebody must do something!
Invisible Finger|8.20.09 @ 11:57AM|#
In other words "I'm too much of a dipshit to say NO to my child because I have a child fetish along with self-esteem issues from my fear that my child may hate me as much as I hate my own parents for not letting me get my way all the time. And those same self-esteem issues fuel my need to become a community activist to trample on the rights of adults who I view with the same hatred as I view my parents because I want to have my way all the time."
Invisible Finger|8.20.09 @ 11:58AM|#
Seems to me the kid had a meltdown because it's a genetic trait from her mother.
|8.20.09 @ 11:59AM|#
"I notice what happens to my daughter when she eats these sugar-filled things with all these additives," she explains.
How does she act? Hyper or happy? Could it be that she's provided
so little happiness to her daughter that she can't even recognize
the emotion in her child?
|8.20.09 @ 12:00PM|#
Jesus T. That is amazing. We still have ice cream trucks in my neighborhood. There is a collection of 4 to 7 year olds who line up on my street to wait for it every evening. It is pretty much as Norman Rockwell as you can possibly get. Only a seriously twisted fuck would have a problem with it.
Abdul|8.20.09 @ 12:02PM|#
Because God forbid she teach her three year old to act like
anything but a poorly trained ape.
As the father of a three year old, I can say that they are
essentially apes. the only known treatment is to wait two
years.
That said, anything is a stimulus for a 3 year old's meltdown, not
just passing ice-cream trucks. My kid cries if he's in bed and he
hears a siren because he can't see the fire truck.
I've tried taking this case to the town council, but they won't
consider a ban on fire trucks for some reason. Where's my NYT
article?
Tomcat1066|8.20.09 @ 12:05PM|#
"It's really predatory for them," she tells the Times, "to
be right inside the playground like this."
Yeah, it's awful. I mean, why on Earth would a business be at a
place that might actually be good for their business? I mean,
seriously?
It's also predatory for there to be ice cream shops in malls,
pharmacies near a large group of doctor's offices, restaurants in a
business district, or anything else positioned to maximize it's
chances of being seen by potential customers!
I hate idiots like this bitch.
Michael|8.20.09 @ 12:05PM|#
In other words "I'm too much of a dipshit to say NO to my
child because I have a child fetish along with self-esteem issues
from my fear that my child may hate me as much as I hate my
own parents for not letting me get my way all the time
will become the same kind of manipulative little brat that
always gets her way that I was at her age. And those same
self-esteem issues fuel my need to become a community activist to
trample on the rights of adults who I view with the same hatred as
I view my parents because I want to have my way all the
time."
Warty|8.20.09 @ 12:10PM|#
Morbo: Morbo demands an answer to the following question: If you
saw delicious candy in the hands of a small child would you seize
and consume it?
Johnson: Unthinkable.
Jackson: I wouldn't think of it.
Morbo: What about you, Mr. Nixon? I remind you, you are under a
truth-o-scope.
[The truth-o-scope hovers over Nixon's head and he starts to
sweat.]
Nixon: Uh, well, I, uh ... the question is-is vague. You don't say
what kind of candy, whether anyone is watching or, uh... [He clears
his throat.] At any rate, I certainly wouldn't harm the
child.
[The truth-o-scope beeps.]
Xeones|8.20.09 @ 12:10PM|#
On the other hand, the dude who drives the ice cream truck in my neighborhood will sometimes park up the block in the evening when there are no kids around, and shortly fill the air with the smell of burning, uh, vegetation. I'm all like, who do you think you are, Big Worm?
|8.20.09 @ 12:13PM|#
Jim Conway, a vice president for Mister Softee, said the
company encouraged vendors to be sensitive to customers'
complaints. But parents, he said, are different from when he was
young. Those who dislike the ice cream man, he said, tend to be
"New Age parents whose kids can't seem to do anything without
them."
Ooh, snap!
Vocki|8.20.09 @ 12:14PM|#
What, like you run a fucking background check on every
restaurant employee that hands you food?
You mean the FDA does *not* do this?!
Kevin|8.20.09 @ 12:14PM|#
For those meltdowns, I recommend a book called "1-2-3 Magic."
It's mostly about how to say NO to your kids and establish that
you, as a parent, are in charge. I think in this case, the author
would recommend putting the kid over your shoulder, driving home,
and sending her to bed.
That, or you could inconvenience everyone else and destroy a bunch
of people's livelihoods.
Jeff P|8.20.09 @ 12:15PM|#
It is unforgivable predatory for Jacob to post a story involving freedom to make a living and irresponsible parenting on a blog whose readers enjoy such stories. He knew full well this post would incite discussion, open mockery of a nanny-state apologist, and criticism of her parenting skills. Mr. Sullum should be ashamed of himself for giving H&R readers exactly what they crave, and benefiting from his reputation as a superior blogger.
|8.20.09 @ 12:15PM|#
I must place some blame on journalism for this. They're giving her a pulpit, enabling her whining, and helping her make contact with other sociopaths.
|8.20.09 @ 12:20PM|#
"As the father of a three year old, I can say that they are
essentially apes. the only known treatment is to wait two
years."
That is true. Having childen can be broken down into the following
stages.
Birth to about 18 months - fun with baby
18 months to about 4 years depending on the kid, life becomes a
living hell as you are forced to live with an emotional tyrant who
cannot be reasoned with or fully communicate their needs and
desires or in any way control them.
4 years to 10 years fun with cute elementary school kid
10 years to 13 years - life with an annoying middle schooler whom
the law makes it illegal to give the beatings they show richly
diserve
13 to 18 - life with a know it all teenager who keeps raiding your
bank account.
People always swear their 2 year old is normally a sweat wonderful
kid. No they are not. They are two years old. There is nothing
sweet or wonderful about them at that age.
phalkor|8.20.09 @ 12:20PM|#
My understanding was that a Vicki was like a whore, except they give it up for free.
<strike>strike through</strike|8.20.09 @ 12:21PM|#
We had ice cream trucks when I was a kid, and my parents taught me a valuable lesson about them: you can't get ice cream if you don't have money, and you don't get money unless you mow the lawns. It was a simpler time.
kc|8.20.09 @ 12:23PM|#
Dontcha just love the parents who try to reason with a toddler
in the middle of a meltdown? "Now, now, you know that sugar is bad
for you, stop crying for Mommy,it's not good to have a treat before
dinner, now listen to Mommy, blah, blah, blah"
All you have to do to stop the meltdown (I speak as a parent who's
been there/done that) is remove the kid from the
playground/restaurant/store; the benefit is 2-fold - the kid gets
distracted and forgets all about the cause of the meltdown, and no
one else has to suffer through the ear-piercing screams.
Do this a few times and the kid will stop screaming the minute you
start to pack up the toys to go home.
But I guess people who don't understand basic economic theory also
don't understand cause & effect in children's behavior.
|8.20.09 @ 12:25PM|#
John, in your professional opinion, is it wrong to mock the shite out of your kid during a meltdown? I find it quite therapeutic.
bend|8.20.09 @ 12:28PM|#
Sugar does cause hyperactivity and anyone who says differently hasn't got kids (or hasn't got my kids). Of course, the hyperactivity is not the result of sugar's metabolism but of the excitement associated with candy, cake and sweetness in general. If you give your kids enough sugar that it becomes no longer a treat, but an entitlement, they no longer get that sugar high-they get diabetes. Do you see the parallel here with government programs.
|8.20.09 @ 12:31PM|#
They can have my tasty frozen sugary treat when they pry it out
of my cold, dead, sticky fingers.
O, and one thing I have noticed - the average 3 year old can outwit
the average 33 year old parent. Or maybe the 3 year olds have more
gumption.
alan|8.20.09 @ 12:35PM|#
Franklin Harris | August 20, 2009, 11:49am | #
I swear to Cthulhu, 99 percent of this planet had better be glad I
haven't learned how to kill people with my mind... yet.
I'm still working on the ability to flick quarters into people's
skulls, but the telekinesis is coming along nicely.
For those who doubt the Powers of the Mind! watch
carefully the tape of Paddy Harrington the other week on the 16th
hole, and Tiger behind him breaking a sweat and trembling as he
knocks Paddy's chip shot ball from the green into the water hazard
with his mind. Damn near killed Woods pulling that one off.
JB|8.20.09 @ 12:35PM|#
Vicki Sell is definitely a fetus in need of a medical
procedure.
Not only should she not have any children, she should have been
aborted long ago.
|8.20.09 @ 12:36PM|#
"No. Because I said so. Because of the long, rich Western
tradition that gives me patria potestas over you and your
siblings."
Or, as Bill Cosby's dad put it: "You know, I brought you into this
world, I'll take you out. And it don't make no difference to me,
I'll make another one look just like you."
creech|8.20.09 @ 12:38PM|#
Nothing new under the sun. I remember reading about a woman in Phila. circa 1900 who actually got the city fathers to hold hearings to stop the spread of electric streetcars because the one going by her house sent a jolt of electricity into her bedroom that (in the venacular of the day) "violated her person."
|8.20.09 @ 12:38PM|#
Because God forbid she teach her three year old to act like
anything but a poorly trained ape. And God forbid that anyone ever
teach a child that sometimes life isn't fair. For these reasons all
children and adults must be derpived of the pleasure that is an ice
cream truck. I really hate some people.
My Gawd. I agree with every thing you said John.
|8.20.09 @ 12:41PM|#
You can't have no ice cream 'cause you on da welfare...and his father's a alcoholic!
Tomcat1066|8.20.09 @ 12:41PM|#
"We had ice cream trucks when I was a kid, and my parents taught
me a valuable lesson about them: you can't get ice cream if you
don't have money, and you don't get money unless you mow the lawns.
It was a simpler time."
Today, many parents teach a different lesson: you can't get ice
cream because the greedy ice cream truck owner doesn't recognize
your right to ice cream. As such, you should agitate for
legislation requiring universal ice cream. Fuck those chumps who
cut grass to buy their ice cream!
Dello|8.20.09 @ 12:43PM|#
Abdul,
"As the father of a three year old, I can say that they are
essentially apes. the only known treatment is to wait two
years."
As the father of a newly five year old, I can say that two years
isn't enough. It's better, but still happens. Worse is that she's
old enough to tell her mom when I smack her now...
If I lived where Sell does, I'd follow her to the park with my kid,
and give my kid yummy sugar treats right in front of her kid, and
say "NO! Your mommy said you can't have any!"
I figure that will cause far less of a melt down for her kid than
an ice cream truck will..
silvermine|8.20.09 @ 12:44PM|#
Oh my goodness. If you can't say "no ice cream" to a 3-year old, you are in so much more trouble than you know, lady...
|8.20.09 @ 12:46PM|#
Having worked in preschools with exactly this demographic, I can
tell you that there are more where Vicki came from. The concept of
disciplining a child is completely foreign to them.
I was scared to give time-outs, for fear of parents thinking I was
irrevocably damaging lil' Jayden's self esteem. These parents will
have a lot of fun when they have adolescents with no concept of
consequences.
|8.20.09 @ 12:46PM|#
This is a girl with a future on that sweet sixteen birthday show on the teevee.
|8.20.09 @ 12:47PM|#
If I lived where Sell does, I'd follow her to the park with
my kid, and give my kid yummy sugar treats right in front of her
kid, and say "NO! Your mommy said you can't have any!"
This is fantastic. While you're there, tell Vicki, "The World
called and it's unanimous. Everyone hates you." Thanks.
|8.20.09 @ 12:48PM|#
Yo, fuck Vicki Sell.
Just what I was going to say. But I must hasten to add that it's
meant purely in a figurative sense. I have no doubt that Vicki Sell
is a lousy lay.
|8.20.09 @ 12:48PM|#
It's mostly about how to say NO to your kids and establish
that you, as a parent, are in charge.
I don't think my mom never read that book, but she was able to
establish that she is in charge.
It usually involved the back of her hand and the phrase "I said
"NO!", now stop crying, or you'll get another one."
Worked like a fucking charm.
Oh and I hardly ever got Ice Cream when the Ice Cream truck came
down our block, even though most my friends did. My mom was quite
"frugal". And I knew better than to embarrass her with a tantrum
for not getting what I want.
Good Times.
|8.20.09 @ 12:48PM|#
I was scared to give time-outs, for fear of parents thinking
I was irrevocably damaging lil' Jayden's self esteem.
I guess spanking the little yard ape was out of the question?
Dello|8.20.09 @ 12:50PM|#
John,
"People always swear their 2 year old is normally a sweat wonderful
kid. No they are not. They are two years old. There is nothing
sweet or wonderful about them at that age."
I am the luckiest guy in the world. We never actually went through
the terrible two's. We have friends who hate us because they
did.
HA!
15% of the GDP and Everybody\'|8.20.09 @ 12:51PM|#
"Dontcha just love the parents who try to reason with a toddler
in the middle of a meltdown? "Now, now, you know that sugar is bad
for you, stop crying for Mommy,it's not good to have a treat before
dinner, now listen to Mommy, blah, blah, blah""
The best example of this I have ever seen was on an airplane. Next
to me was a 3-year-old and next to him was his father.
The plane landed, the father took the kid's toy truck and then put
it into a napsack. The kid started to cry.
Well the (stupid) father was under the impression that the reason
the kid was crying was due to the fact that we were stuck on the
tarmac waiting for an open gate. This went on for a good ten
minutes and the whole time the dad is trying to explain to this
screaming kid that everything was okay and that we wouldn't have
too long to wait. And I'm thinking (with my internal screaming
voice) JUST GIVE THE KID HIS FUCKING TRUCK BACK, MORON!!!
|8.20.09 @ 12:59PM|#
I guess spanking the little yard ape was out of the
question?
Um, the enlightened, progressive parents of today have done away
with such discipline brutish child
abuse.
|8.20.09 @ 1:08PM|#
I love the folk legend that 'additives' and sugar cause
hyperactivity. Unless your kid has diabetes or some other metabolic
problem, excess sugar will not make them 'hyper'.
Tell that to all the drink makers who make "energy drinks" by
loading them up with sugar rather than baked potato extract. Just
because something is counterintuitive and smart-sounding does not
make it true!
|8.20.09 @ 1:11PM|#
I thought they loaded em with sugar to keep em from tasting like the liquid that bear grylls squeazed from the elephant dung?
|8.20.09 @ 1:15PM|#
Maybe the 3-year-old needs to play the final match against Sweet Tooth in Twisted Metal 2. That will take care of any affection for ice cream trucks.
T|8.20.09 @ 1:44PM|#
Tell that to all the drink makers who make "energy drinks"
by loading them up with sugar rather than baked potato
extract.
Mix caffeine and tuarine together with some water and take a big
swig, Tulpa. That'll clue you in as to why those things have so
much sugar.
|8.20.09 @ 1:45PM|#
I don't think Vickie Sell is a heath freak at all. She's a
rent seeking business owner. Why not use the government to take
out the competition?
Crony capitalism: It's not just for mustache twirling conservatives
anymore!
dhex|8.20.09 @ 1:49PM|#
chip shop is so much more deadly than ice cream it's not even funny. (the fried mac n' cheese is pretty damn good, however)
spelling Nazi|8.20.09 @ 1:50PM|#
the father took the kid's toy truck and then put it into a
napsack
I'd cry too if I had to take a nap in a sack.
Joe M|8.20.09 @ 3:23PM|#
Agree with what everyone said. But to be fair to the Times (I know), they do end the article with someone basically saying it's ridiculous.
Xeones|8.20.09 @ 3:26PM|#
Not even with your junk.
That's not the meaning i was going for, but she probably could use
a good grudgefuck up the poop chute.
Robert|8.20.09 @ 3:52PM|#
livelihoods she's trying to ruin because she's afraid to say no to a 3-year-old.
I realized some years ago that a great amount of the trouble in the
world stems from that tendency, i.e. the desire to use 3rd party
methods (usu. governmental) to avoid saying no to someone (not
necessarily a child, sometimes even oneself). We tax people to pay
beggars so we can avoid saying no to them personally, we prohibit
various offerings so we can avoid saying no them or to the offerer,
and so on.
|8.20.09 @ 7:46PM|#
Vicki needs to grow a pair. If she doesn't learn how to say no
to her child, they're going to end up on Jerry Springer, even if
she does get the city to put a bunch of innocent ice cream vendors
out of business.
-jcr
|8.20.09 @ 7:50PM|#
These parents will have a lot of fun when they have
adolescents with no concept of consequences.
I once dated a woman whose parents were pioneers in the field of
raising a kid with no concept of consequences. I warned her several
times that some day, she wouldn't be hot enough to get away with
her bullshit.
Last time I ran into her, she was considerably past her "sell by"
date, and clearly hadn't yet realized it. It was hilarious to watch
her try to interact with people in that condition.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, even years later.
-jcr
Every Fucking Liberal in the W|8.20.09 @ 7:54PM|#
But I guess people who don't understand basic economic
theory also don't understand cause & effect in children's
behavior.
WAAAAAAAAH! I want free healthcare! I want the government to take
everybody else's toys and give them to me! I want the government to
stop anyone else from doing anything I'm too goddamned lazy to
accomplish!
|8.20.09 @ 7:57PM|#
I love the folk legend that 'additives' and sugar cause
hyperactivity.
Well, people like Vicki love that legend, because it lets her off
the hook for being a piss-poor parent.
-jcr
|8.20.09 @ 8:51PM|#
I really hate the noise pollution that Ice Cream trucks bring into a park setting. Some of them are really loud. I don't having my kid marketed to in a park but haven't having to ask those jerks to turn the christmas tunes is a bit much.
Sean Healy|8.21.09 @ 8:27AM|#
Sugar does cause hyperactivity and anyone who says
differently hasn't got kids (or hasn't got my kids)
Um, I do have kids. I don't know your kids, but I suspect you may
be primed by the hyper myth to ascribe their bad behavior to sugar
without any evidence to back it up. Do your kids freak out when
they eat bananas? Because bananas are loaded with delicious, easily
digestible sugars. That's why they are one of the preferred fuels
for marathon runners - along with hard candy. Pretty much the same
input.
|8.21.09 @ 8:46AM|#
I am the person quoted in the Times story and my point of view was not accurately reflected. I'm very upset to have been misquoted as hating Mister Softee and all ice cream vendors. I have absolutely NOT started a campaign against them. My complaint was about the ice vendors within the playground that are unlicensed and illegally selling to children in a place they are not allowed. I called 311 once (not multiple times by any stretch of the imagination) to inquire about their legal standing. They do not have sanction from any health authority to handle food and there's no telling where their product comes from. I had hoped that would be played up in the article. And yes, I do feel that bringing these carts into the playground is predatory. They are run out over and over by the police or parks people but come back time and time again. I don't have any problem with legal vendors outside the playground in areas they are licensed for -- despite what the article says. I'm all for people making a living and for people to choose the time and the place to buy treats for their children. I did discuss these points for the article but I don't see them there. In fact while I was being interviewed we bought ice pops for our children from a licensed vendor outside the park.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245