We returned safely from our family Labor Day camping trip. My children wore approved life jackets when near the water. We had no campfires. We stored and cooked our food properly. We washed our hands before eating. We definitely didn’t drink and drive.
That wasn’t enough to satisfy our government though. We were pulled over by a Sultan police officer. Was I driving erratically? Throwing beer cans out the window? No, we were suspected of having a child in the front seat without a seatbelt. Never mind that we had three children in approved car seats in back and a 7-year-old between my wife and I, using a seatbelt thoughtfully provided by the car manufacturer. No violations, just concern for our safety that required her to pull us over on a two-lane road with no shoulder.
I’m frustrated with the nanny-state of government. A sex-offender with multiple convictions, deemed “likely to re-offend,” can be released next door with only a notice. Some concern for our safety, huh? Cracking down over personal safety issues while failing to provide the safety they’re charged with, our government is derelict in its responsibility while trying to codify into law what once was the responsibility of a free person in a free society. There is a growing condescension in our government towards us. Have you seen the sign on I-5 that says “Litter, and it will hurt”? Please resist the urge to give more power to this elite government in order to force your neighbors to behave as you wish them to.
Snohomish
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