Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3801-3805 (6-10 August 2018)
BlueFatima:
--- Quote from: Stoutfellow on 08 Aug 2018, 07:37 ---It occurs to me to wonder why Faye didn't ask Bubbles to keep an eye on Sam while she took her bathroom break. Bubbles can't have been too far away. (Granted, she may have been otherwise occupied.)
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Or she could have told Sam to wait to start until she came back. Sam is impulsive, but strikes me as mature enough to pay attention when an adult specifically asks her to do (or not to do) something—especially someone like Faye who she really looks up to. In fact, if Faye had mentioned not ever to touch power tools in motion, this could have been prevented...but it's really easy to assume a child (especially an older one) has the same level of knowledge and common sense. It's a very easy rookie mistake to make if you haven't had a lot of experience watching kids.
Truthfully? Sam wasn't totally off. Dremel actually has a kit to trim pet nails, and I believe some people may use them for manicures, too, but those are totally with different attachments/and speed settings.
And I've actually held things in my hand before while using my Dremel—never metal things, though. The sparks alone can burn you, and the pressure on them is too high to hold onto.
Inconsequential:
Someone earlier mentioned gloves -- you NEVER wear gloves around rotating machinery.
Jim won't freak out or call a lawyer. Sam's taking a sword class, and Faye has been teaching Sam about dangerous stuff for a while now. He will not be shocked, upset, or the least bit surprised at this minor injury. Probably been expecting worse. He's a baker and he's seen much worse. It'll be a teachable moment all around. She's learned something valuable at a rather low cost, to be honest.
I was doing all kinds of potentially dangerous stuff at that age, and my parents would have never even thought to blame the people teaching me.
Sam probably won't be able to operate machinery until it's healed, and that will take a while. She can still do sprays, though.
I mean, the finger is still attached, so technically Faye's promise to send Sam home with all her fingers attached has been kept...
And of course Bubbles has a complete database on battlefield trauma and treatment... bandaging a ripped-out fingernail is trivial.
Thrillho:
--- Quote from: rtmq0227 on 08 Aug 2018, 06:59 ---I'm frankly surprised how many people are freaking out that Faye took her eyes off of Sam for a second. A) She's proven herself a capable worker when handling dangerous tools. B) It is unreasonable to assume that an apprentice should be under 100% supervision at all times while working. C) We now know that Sam made a conscious choice to do a dumb thing in a manner that Faye hasn't seen before (i.e. the willingness to knowingly put her body at risk, not just accidentally)
I think back to shop class, and working in my parents shop, and Appalachia Service Project (think Habitat for Humanity with church kids), etc. and how many times I was unsupervised with power tools. I was also an accident-prone kid. I once severed the tendon in my thumb with a Leatherman knife because I was trying to cut cable ties with it, a knife my grandfather had given me, and it slipped. My parents never blamed anyone but me for the damage (and rightly so). I had handled knives before, even did a report on knife safety, so it was a conscious level of stupidity, similar to Sam trying to trim her nails with a dremel.
Nails grow back, Jim may freak out a little and it'll cause drama, but it's not enough to shut a company down. Maaaaybe small claims court for the medical costs of a box of band-aides, and a small consideration for emotional trauma, if he really wanted to be a hard-ass about it. I can't even imagine a way (short of infection) for Sam to lose a finger with a grinding bit. It would take a while to abrade your finger off. Plus, Sam has clearly learned that she is, in fact, destructible. I'd say that a grounding from the shop for a while (I like the extension due to considering lying to her dad) coming from both sides (Faye and Jim) should do enough for the lesson to sink in.
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I disagree with you, and your parents. I don't really want to go further with that point because it's an ideological difference, and I'd be simply discussing rather than criticising, but you'd have a job managing to keep that topic going.
I have to say that I can't imagine Jeph as a writer really making legal action the next plot point here. To be honest I don't think it's very interesting.
edit: Now that I think about it, surely what Faye has done here is massively illegal? Especially in the US? Over here you could get away with 16 (I've worked with young people with power tools there) but they still need a parental consent form up to 18 to do anything like Sam is doing. I'm even talking about child endangerment or anything, I just mean Health and Safety.
And she sure as shit ain't covered by any apprenticeship laws unless we had a lovely time jump where we missed them doing a shitload of paperwork with the local authority!
Undrneath:
I lost a nail at school once during a production of A Christmas Carol I think, my parents probably didn't even bat an eye. I was an "active" kid much like Sam and was a regular at the emergency room.
themacnut:
--- Quote from: BlueFatima on 08 Aug 2018, 06:04 ---My kiddo's 9, and I can't imagine suing anyone over her losing a nail. I may not trust her to alone again with that person at her current age, but if she was a young teenager I may actually chalk it more up as a life lesson than blame the adult in charge. Kids cannot be bubble wrapped forever...
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Unfortunately keeping your kids bubble-wrapped as long as possible is considered good parenting in many quarters these days, especially in light of things like school shootings and what not. Never mind that it tends to produce young adults who can barely do anything for themselves, kids must be kept totally safe at all costs or you're a terrible parent! Yes the last part of that sentence was sarcasm - it's not possible to keep your kids totally safe at all times, no matter how much you may want to.
Anyway, I forgot that Jim's living with (married to?) Marten's mom Veronica these days. All things considered, he may be more chill about this than many of us think he will be, but perhaps Veronica won't be! Maybe she'll be the one who freaks out over Sam's injury and gets up in Faye's face about it. I suppose we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the week's strips play out...
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