Law library’s skeleton can’t go near the windows after complaints from a mom

Maggie Baxtor pointed the way to sad news, Flexible Fred is dead. The 5-foot-tall, 200-bone plastic skeleton slumps on his roller stand in a corner of the Delaware County Law Library. Taped to his clavicle is a sign that reads: “We have had a neighbor complain that Flexible Fred is scaring her children. Please do NOT put him near any windows.” For many people, a skeleton either is or represents “the visible remains of a human being,” Olson said. “It raises interesting issues.”

October 3, 2008 by Uncategorized 7

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7 Responses

  1. Jon Gorman says:
    October 3, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Freddie’s forced to go back in the closet
    Don’t tell me today’s progressive and embracing society we must force Freddie to go back into the closet. So a few people are scared and uncomfortable. In time hopefully they’ll come to be able to accept or at least tolerate Freddie and deal with the fact this is just how Freddie was made.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    October 3, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    Um ok
    What does this person do during Halloween? Does she put in complaints with every single person who puts a skeleton in their yard/dresses up as a skeleton???

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    October 3, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Must be Banned Bones week again
    n/t

    Reply
  4. Auntie Nanuuq says:
    October 3, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    Freddie
    Excuse me…this is basic human anatomy! I have a Great Idea! Let’s take this woman and her children to the library and give them some children’s books on the human body…. Let’s educate this woman… Ignorance, well stupidity (for stupidity is a choice to remain ignorant) is no excuse in this day and age of Information!

    Sheesh!

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    October 3, 2008 at 8:22 pm

    skeletons in windows
    First, I’m all for dressing poor Freddie up. We have several mascots at our library like that. Only they don’t stay in the windows. Not for complaints, but for the possibility of theft. They usually stay in the staff-only areas because they’re our toys, no one else’s!

    “Ignorance, well stupidity (for stupidity is a choice to remain ignorant) is no excuse in this day and age of Information!” What??? Maybe I just don’t understand the need to call people ignorant or stupid. To call someone stupid and ignorant when you don’t have all the details is, frankly, ignorant. I didn’t get much detail from the article about the complainer, did you? I’m not even going to ask why you capitalized information.

    Sure she could take the opportunity to teach her child…blah, blah, blah. But don’t you remember ever having an irrational fear, or your child seeing something like a skeleton or clown and just freaking out? Some things are not teachable moments. Sometimes, it’s just a fear or phase they will grow out of. When I was little, I had a fear of pink houses. Yes, houses painted pink scared me tremendously. But my parents never asked anyone to repaint their homes just because I cried or screamed. They knew I would get over it and I did.

    Reply
    • Anonymous says:
      October 3, 2008 at 9:31 pm

      “But my parents never asked
      “But my parents never asked anyone to repaint their homes just because I cried or screamed.”

      That is why this woman is stupid. Instead of dealing with her child’s fear, she is trying to change the world around her daughter to get ride of the things she fears. Her actions also have the effect of reinforcing her daughters fears.

      Reply
      • Anonymous says:
        October 3, 2008 at 9:40 pm

        stupid for stupid’s sake?
        Perhaps I just don’t call people stupid for trying to protect their children. Is what she’s doing the ‘right’ way to parent? I honestly don’t think so. But, was this skeleton perhaps placed in a window directly across from the child’s bedroom window? I don’t know. Do you? Would it make a difference? For me, it might. Without knowing anything more than what this article gives or knowing anything about that library or neighborhood, I can’t say if she’s doing the right thing. I can assume she’s overreacting, but I’m not assuming she’s stupid. Should I? Does that make me more enlightened?

        Reply

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