A Close Call

Today, the Board of Supervisors in Santa Clara County have voted to ban restaurants from giving away toys accompanying children's meals unless those meals meet their accepted levels of calories, fat, salt and sugar.

1. My deepest thanks to those 5 board members. How on Earth was I going to be able to make an informed decision about my child's nutritional health unless I was provided with the Toy / No Toy give away? The world, or at least children in Santa Clara County, is a safer and healthier place today. Finally the parents in Santa Clara have been given the secret key to the garden of knowledge about the nutritional value of Burger King kid's meals. Until now, who knew that a cheeseburger and fries wasn't all that great for you?

2. Of late I have been wondering about the serious issues being undertaken by various government servants throughout the United States. I am comforted to know that, at least in Santa Clara, those five venerable supervisors have proven that things like the black-hole of California's state budget, the jobless rate in CA and the provision of basic services to their constituents such as public education or enough police coverage are secondary to passing laws about including wind-up Mr. Potato Heads with hamburgers. Who ever elected this gifted group of genius to these positions should be congratulated. Could they have anticipated the extent to which this quintet of bureaucrats could tackle such lofty issues? I don't think so.

I'm gonna rest a whole lot easier tonight. And tomorrow? Tomorrow, I'm gonna buy a whole bunch of happy meals and send them to the board for all their hard work. They won't get the toys though. This ought to confuse the day lights out of them.