jgzman

So it's basically that they want all children to have access to ASL.

They need to find a better way to phrase it, then.

Shit, I hear just fine, and I wish I'd been taught ASL as a child.

Which is a reasonable thing for you to ask. It probably looked like fun. Or like a "grown-up think."

But she (hopefully) wouldn't have let you drive the car, or shoot a gun, or go scuba-diving, or drink beer, or have ice cream for dinner. You're too young for that shit, no matter how much fun it looks like, and it is incumbent upon the adult (or nearly so) to protect the child, not let them do whatever looks like fun.

Of course, I'm sure you know this already.

I have tried to explain this feeling to my wife a few times. She simply doesn't understand that in the modern world, most men would rather cut off small bits of flesh than be alone with a child that is not their own.

My last workplace, I has a small child, probably five or six wander up to me, and start talking about something or another, while stroking my leg. I tell you, I could not get away from that child fast enough.

Same place, I had a child, four or five, walk away from it's parents, and then start running twords the road. It's a four-lane main-drag kind of street, too. Dropped what I was holding, hauled ass, and gently tackled the kid, without knocking him down. Parents at least thanked me for grabbing him, rather than suing me for touching. I was pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, that assumes that only men abuse.

No it doesn't. It's a single example, and cannot cover every possibility.

I am eagerly looking forward to "A Call to Duty," if Baen will ever release it.

How did you wind up working with David Webber? Did you approach him, or he you?