Life with the children

[drwex]

In L's world, things are very simple. This AM he comes downstairs coughing.

Me: Oh oh, that doesn't sound good. That sounds like my cough.
L: No it doesn't. Yours is LOUDER.

Right then.

Meanwhile, K has learned that pushing the 'reject' button on game machines will sometimes cause them to return quarters. Someone else's quarters; someone who walked away from a partial credit. He used this knowledge to acquire a couple dollars' worth at the arcade yesterday. I'm conflicted.

On the one hand: YAY, my child is showing basic hacker tendencies.
On the other hand: I wonder if he'll get in trouble doing this.

Comments

[ciani.livejournal.com]

I don't know if K will get in trouble. I used to do that when I was a kid. Possession is 9/10ths of the law right, and if someone walked away from the game machine they can't prove they were their quarters and not his. But um... anyway. I suspect my parents would have also been conflicted if they knew.

[mizarchivist]

K & Quarters:
Do I think he'd get in trouble for checking unattended machines for abandoned quarters? No way.
It seems pretty probable that this activity will help spark future hacker-like schemes. It also seems likely that you and he will talk in future about ethical conundrums and societal rules and what one has to do to not go to jail. Yes he'll get in trouble, just like we all do- he'll be fine, though.

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's any more ethically questionable than picking up money left on the ground. Small amounts are finders-keepers.

[tigira.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Ah, black and white worlds.

As for K, I would also be conflicted. Yay for being curious enough to find this out and resourceful enough to recognize when to do it. I think that reinforcing this too much might encourage him to get into trouble later. (I don't think this, in itself, will do so).

[heinleinfan.livejournal.com]

LOL

Okay, I can almost relate to this because David goes down to the arcade in town for a little pinball now and then, and sometimes I go...and I was having the exact same conflicted thoughts when I saw him scouting around pinball machines, looking for extra games that people may have walked away from.

Not saying David's my "child" but still, I nearly snarfed coffee when I read this.