I never read the short story The Sound of Thunder, but I intend to.

Yes, the following is from Reddit, but I see no real reason to
disbelieve any of it, sadly. Also, if things like this didn't happen in
one situation, they certainly do, elsewhere.


"Perfect example of how no one parents anymore."
(37 comments so far)

https://www.reddit.com/r/childfree/comments/1kofjtq/perfect_example_of_how_no_one_parents_anymore/?sort=old


Why in the world are there no strong age restrictions on this?

Also, why don't the parents get fined?

(The threat of boycotts, I assume.)

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avatarst

"Hopefully they ban the stupid little gremlins and their terrible
parents for life. That’s horrible"

Libba_Loo

"I live in a city with a lot of pigeons. It almost never fails than
whenever you see a bunch of them grouped together on the ground, some
little s--- will charge right up through the middle of them and make
them all fly away in a panic.

"All the while little s--- is laughing and big s--- (mom or dad
whichever) is either also laughing, or on their phone. God forbid you
try to gently tell little s--- that it's not nice to treat animals that
way, that you should respect nature, etc. Guaranteed, big s--- will
suddenly decide to put their phone down long enough to be like 'how DARE
you talk to my perfect angel that way!!!' "

Amata69:

"Parents laughing and taking pictures makes it seem like it's not just
their lack of parenting. I mean, they can surely read and know the kid
isn't supposed to touch the butterflies, but it's like they enjoy
letting the kid do what's not allowed. So in summary, you and your mum
were the only actual adults there."

9Armisael9:

"Probably not a popular opinion with the general public but, I'm totally
okay if places like these with fragile creatures or precious artifacts
ban entry to people under 18 altogether, because getting parents to be accountable for their children in this day and age is damn near
impossible."

scarletOwilde:

"I went to an open day at a petting farm with my two nephews. They had activities like brushing long haired rabbits on a table while a staff
member demonstrated how to do it gently.

"This vile feral child, with his parents nowhere to be seen, started to
hit one of the bunnies with the handle of the grooming brush.

"I was at the table with surprising speed and snatched the brush out of
his hand (he wasn’t a really young kid, 8 ish) and gave him a robust
telling off, including asking the little psycho how he’d feel if I hit
him on the head with a big brush?

"The little *+% just laughed and ran off to join his useless mother
yapping with her mates on the other side of the field.

"I was SO angry."

gothicuhcuh

"I don’t think children (reckless, thoughtless, selfish, loves to break
and destroy things) should be in a room full of alive, delicate,
harmless insects regardless of parental supervision. Most parents are
morons and so self centered, what value does a butterfly have to them
when their child is the most precious thing in their eyes? Children are
too cruel to things smaller and weaker than them."

___________________________________________

And if anyone doesn't know the 1952 story "A Sound of Thunder":

From Wikipedia:

"In the year 2055, time travel is a practical reality, and the company
Time Safari Inc. offers wealthy adventurers the chance to travel back in
time to hunt extinct species such as dinosaurs. A hunter named Eckels
pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back 65 million
years to the Late Cretaceous period, on a guided safari to kill a
Tyrannosaurus rex. As the party waits to depart, they discuss the recent presidential elections in which a candidate, Deutscher, has been
defeated by his opponent Keith, to the relief of many concerned..."

From LitCharts:

"In 'A Sound of Thunder,' the butterfly is a symbol of the delicate
ecological balance of the natural world. Although it is small, Bradbury
reminds us, a butterfly—like every other creature—has its own role to
play in the environmental order..."

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I've been rushing around the last few days. Otherwise, I would have been
glad to copy and paste the more relevant parts, back then.

(Btw, in my first post, I listed the comments from oldest to newest,
since it's a relatively short thread.)

Here goes:

beautyanddelusion:

"Perfect example of how no one parents anymore."

RANT
"Went to a butterfly emporium with my (29F) mother (54F). Several kids
were touching the butterflies despite clear instructions from staff not
to, as it harms them. Not one parent did a single thing while their kids
rubbed their grimy fingers all over the poor creatures’ wings. Some
laughed and took pictures as the butterflies struggled to get away.
Finally, my mom publicly chastised one of them before he killed it by
pulling its wing off. How is it that my own goddamn mother is parenting
this generation more than their parents? Hope you got your stupid
f------ Facebook post."

capedconkerer2:

"Christ, an enclosure full of unsupervised, budding sociopaths and some
of the most beautiful, delicate creatures in nature. What could POSSIBLY
go wrong?"

L8StrawberryDaiquiri:

"That poor butterfly & the others won't be able to fly all of that well
in order to get food. Most people know a butterfly's wings are delicate
& to only look at them, no touching. They aren't like moths where you
can gently pet their fluffy backs & they'll be fine. But that would've
made me really upset if I saw that as I do care for the smaller animals.
A butterfly can't even physically protect themselves from being harmed."

SamAnthaACE:

"Clearly these kids have never read A Sound of Thunder."

piper_Furiosa:

"High school teacher here: it's like pulling teeth to get them to read
deeply enough to actually understand the plot, so even if they have
'read' it, many haven't read it.

"(Not every story is every kid's cup of tea, to be completely fair, but
there has been this phenomenon the last couple of years where if there's
any bit of challenge to a text, they just won't try to engage with it.
It has really been breaking my heart.)"

Early_Explorer627

"I was in a butterfly enclosure once, and there was a lady who worked
there, talking about the many butterflies.. one flew over to this young
boy about 8-10 and landed on his arm.. she said 'oh lovely! that is one
of our rare butterfly varieties! there are maybe..' and he slapped the butterfly and killed it. All the adults and older teens gasped and
looked at the scene in complete shock and sadness. The mother didn't do
or say anything, just said 'come on, let's go look over here' and walked
away."

Sutekiwazurai

"I hope those people were banned from ever entering again. As well as
they ought to pay compensation to the butterfly pavilion."

merc0526:

"I really don't understand this passive parenting thing that seems to
have become a lot more common. It's like parents think that discipline
of any sort is cruel and harmful, when in reality there are plenty of
ways you can tell a child off or teach them right from wrong without
doing things like screaming at or hitting them."

avinagigglemate:

"I walk dogs and occasionally take them along the creek, there was a
nanny with 4 kids and the kids were throwing rocks at, and killing, all
the tadpoles and frogs i said something and she told me to leave them
alone. I dont know what the hell is wrong with people"

khaotic-trash:

"I literally BAWLED my eyes out once as a kid because I accidentally
stepped on a grasshopper, and I freak out and profusely apologize to my
cat every time I step on her foot or her tail. These kids are
legitimately insane, what is wrong with these parents??"

InsuranceActual9014:

"What did the staff do?"

beautyanddelusion:
OP

"Nothing. Here is a recent review from Google: 'It was a great place,
however, the children that were in the butterfly exhibit were hitting
the butterflies, pulling plants out, and were not supervised. I am
letting people know because this genuinely makes you feel horrible and
small children may not enjoy insects. I had to watch children hit insect
glass. Stomp around, destroy the place, and no parents were holding
their kids accountable. A lot of kids picked all the flowers within
reach. The employees were nice and a lot of them seemed to be bothered
by this behavior too. It wasn't like there wasn't signs telling parents
how to tell their children to act. Don't bring your kids if they have no empathy. I cant believe I watched a kid kill a butterfly in front of me.
Kids can be very cruel and it's disturbing.' ”

Based_Orthodox:

"I think it's time to add another review to that end, with a
recommendation of instituting an age limit."

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