My Soapbox

Last week when I was in the check-out line at the grocery store, this magazine caught my eye:

Although there are several headlines that I object to my children reading, I'm sure you can see which one first caught my attention:

It's kind of hard to read the caption under it, but it says 50 Fun Things to Do Bare-A$$ed

I grabbed the magazine, held it out to the clerk, and said "Do you see what this says?! What if my children had been in line with me?!!" She mumbled something sympathetic and continued to scan my groceries. Still flabbergasted but not really sure what else to do, I put the magazine back and continued checking out. Honestly, once I left the store, I forgot about it...until I went again this week.

There it was again. I didn't bother saying anything this time (same clerk), but stewed about it nonetheless. The plunging neckline and references to sex are bad enough, but why the profanity? And if the editors feel it's absolutely necessary, why does it have to be in a spot within the store where our children are exposed to it? Some parents may not care, but for those of us who do, why make things difficult?!

I was at Blockbuster this afternoon, renting a movie for our family movie night. Both kids were in school, so I was again by myself. There in the check out line was the same magazine, only this time it wasn't at shoulder level on the other side of the check-out aisle. It was at waist level, making it right at eye level for someone Danielle's age. Had the kids been with me, there's no way they would have missed the giant "BUTT".

I proceeded to check out and then started to feel a bit cowardly. I mean, if no one ever says anything, nothing will ever change, right? And even if it's only one store, it could potentially be one less store, right? There was another mom with her daughter in the store, so I waited until I got home. I called the store and explained my concern. The clerk was very apologetic and sympathetic. She said there is a mandatory spot within the store where the magazines have to be displayed so she couldn't move them to another part of the store; However, she did offer to move this specific magazine to the second row. By doing that it would be at least partially hidden by the magazines in the first row. That didn't really solve the problem, but I guess it's a start.

Hopefully it made it a little easier for the next mom and her kids.