WJBC Forum: Over-legislating our lives

The historic Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

When my children were small, we took a trip to Laramie, Wyoming to visit Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Susan, owners of Grand Avenue Pizza.

Ron and Susan took a “hands on” approach to spending time with the kids. Using their culinary expertise, they cooked wonderful meals with them. I will never forget Ron teaching the kids not to touch the hot stove. He pointed at the burner and said, “That’s hot!” Then he would point at it again and ask each child in turn, “Alex, what is this?” Alex’s reply: “Hot!” “Brandon, what is this?”

Brandon reply: “Hot!” “Kendra, what is this?” Kendra’s reply: “Hot!” It’s not that hard to teach people what they need to know.  Two of the most important things that we all need to get through life are common sense and education.

It is incredibly sad to me that we have to consider legislating things like tanning bed use as proposed by Representative Bill Mitchell, texting while driving, trans fats, and sugar. We are all up in arms over the waste that goes on in our state government and yet we are asking the people who represent us to spend time on these common sense issues.

We live in a world where information on every topic is widely available almost instantaneously. Each of us has the ability to become educated on any subject via the internet or our local library. I can’t believe that anyone doesn’t know that drinking and driving can kill, that living on fried foods will clog your arteries, and that watching a Kardashian marathon will rot your brain.

Do we need our government to tell us these things? Sometimes I think we should stop legislating control over all these things and let the chips fall where they may. Then I remember all the stupid things I did in my youth (and in all honesty, a few last week) and I realize there but for the grace of God and my education go I.

As we age, hopefully we start to get smarter about these things. Each person has to decide on the level of health and safety they wish to maintain and how it fits into their own personal pursuit of happiness. If we are really lucky, people also start to see how their choices affect others and society as a whole.

Personally, I’d rather our government spent more time on the business of bringing business to Illinois and less time micromanaging the individual.

This is Nancy Cruse for the WJBC Forum.

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Nancy Cruse has been part of the Bloomington/Normal community for the past almost 30 years. A widow, with five children, along with her late husband was a small business owner in downtown Bloomington. Now employed by State Farm, Nancy is active in the community, writing the Clare House newsletter and maintaining their Facebook page, hosting an annual Fourth of July Food Drive, a team leader and fundraiser for the Pat Nohl Lupus Walk, and a member of Toastmasters International, as well as volunteering in various capacities at Holy Trinity Church and schools. In her spare time, Nancy likes to run, bike, hike, read, sew, and be a vegetarian who occasionally indulges in a Schooners Tenderloin.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Townsquare Media.