Norway's Nanny State Abandons All Pretense of Cultural Sensitivity And Goes Psycho
India's NDTV reports that Norway's protective services have taken away an Indian couple's children for…Beating them? Nahin. Molesting them? Ikke. OK, then, some serious neglect must be involved? Ne.
The couple's crime is that they hand-fed their one- and three-year-olds, a practice that is common in their country. As the father explained, "when the mother is feeding with a spoon there could be phases when she is overfeeding the child." But apparently the authorities determined that what they were doing was force-feeding and took away the children (who do not look over weight in the picture). Another rap against the parents was that their children slept in the bed with them, another common practice in their culture.
The parents have not been allowed to see their kids for eight months.
Norway's protective services have a history of excesses. A 2005 UN report criticized Norway for taking too many children in public care. "The amount was 12,500 children and Norway is a small country," notes Svein Kjetil Lode Svendsen, a lawyer.
But if "over-eating" or "over-feeding" is a crime, then most Americans are criminals as far as Europe is concerned. So doesn't the U.S. need to launch a pre-emptive attack to defend its way of life or something?
Be that as it may, as the Norwegian authorities are putting away people for eating with their hands, Culver City's Roy Choi of A-Frame fame finds people who eat with silverware like "fingernails on a chalkboard."
Choi, who was inspired by Hawaiian cuisine, has made utensils optional in his restaurant, reports The New York Times. "Though a basket of silverware is provided at each table, when the grilled pork chop or market salad arrives, servers advise customers that they'll be missing out if they pick up a fork."
Can't Western folks just agree on everything and spare us Easterners the cultural confusion?
H/T: Geeta Sood.