pthalates, craziness, and wheelchair tires

Along with everyone else in the civilized world, today I learned that baby powders, lotions, and shampoos are all full of pthalates, and that parents should avoid smearing their children with pthalates. This action would potentially reduce the smell rays emitted by your average small child, a step which is long overdue.

In other news, while sharing anecdotes with some friends, I learned that more than one EI in the world feels that 'you break it, you buy it' should apply to their health when someone does something that causes them to seek medical attention. I can see that applying if someone you don't know comes right up to you and sprays you with perfume (that's assault), but these people will apply it to people who are actively trying to help them, know what they are doing, but can't anticipate every possible trouble source. So I'm going to come right out and say it: some EIs are crazy. The thing is that they were most likely crazy to start with, so you can't really blame the chemicals.

Ok, that came up because someone (we'll call her Washerwoman) recounted a story about helping a lady decontaminate some laundry, and the lady had a disagreement with Mr. Washerwoman because he apparently wasn't conforming to her standards. Washerwoman was in a different room and pretended not to hear the argument, but when she went to ask the lady if she wanted all of her stuff put in the dryer, the lady said, "Just throw it out. I don't care." I think Washerwoman should have just thrown it out.

In yet more news, ancient Roman wheelchair tires will kill you. It's no wonder people in old wheelchairs don't seem to be doing very well.