Ignorance

NATICK - "You can't win these days," Kari Canney, 29, said with a sigh. "The more informed you are, the more nervous you are."

(Boston Globe on holiday toy shopping)

I remember playing, as a kid, with a red glob of mercury from a broken thermometer (it's really cool stuff) and, later, passing a larger silver blob of it around in a high school science class. I remember using the nasty industrial solvent trychlorethylene to glue together plastic airplane and ship models. I remember sticking my feet in x-ray machines to see how well the new shoes fit - every thoroughly modern shoe store or shoe department had a machine like that. They also made a great place to play when your mom dragged you along on shopping trips.

None of it killed me - just made me a little weird.

I'm not saying you should actually do any of those things, I'm just saying ignorance is bliss.

Or was.