My wife and I were reading the paper the other day and noticed a movement afoot in Virginia that would require women to get a sonogram and receive a picture of the fetus before having an abortion.
That got me thinking.
What if we applied the same concept in other areas? What if we looked at all the decisions that people make that could have a significant impact on them and those around them, and required them to watch, receive or do something before they took action?
Here’s a short list that I came up with. Feel free to add yours:
- You must watch a fatal car accident before getting a driver’s licence (when I was young, they used to do this).
- You must go and watch cows being slaughtered in a slaughterhouse before eating a burger.
- You must look at pictures of chicken farms before ordering chicken tenders.
- You must view a vaginal birth before having sex.
- You must look at pictures of overweight people before eating sweets.
- You must review your bank account, credit statement and IRA before purchasing anything over $100.
- You must watch “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” before getting married.
- You must go to an AA meeting before purchasing alcohol.
- You must spend time in a restaurant kitchen before going there to order a meal.
- You must watch videos of someone unclogging a (a) garbage disposal; (b) toilet; and (c) gutters, before buying a home.
- You must watch people clean the nightclub on Sunday morning before going there Saturday night.
- You must visit an inner-city faith-based charity before giving up on God.
So now it is your turn.
What other things should people have to see (or do) before making decisions that could impact them and others?
*You must watch someone do a load of laundry and search for pairs before putting on socks.
*You must watch images of clogged arteries before eating any fat.
*You must spend the day with 15 year olds before having kids.
*you must see child slaves before purchasing non fair trade items.
But likely the most useful:
*You must speak to 5 rape victims experiencing PTSD before making laws about their body.
*You must live for 3 months caring for a family of 4 on a yearly salary of $22,000 before cutting programs for the poor.
*you must teach in an inner city school before cutting funding on education.
*You must watch unedited war video before waging war on other countries (only the first few minutes of Saving Private Ryan if you would like to use warlike rhetoric)
To add to Sarah’s last post, “you have to watch unedited (actual) footage of war before voting to go to war.” You must be willing to hand deliver a folded flag and letter explaining how and when the son or daughter was killed to a family member of the fallen.
-You must view a NATURAL vaginal birth before having sex.