It's not labeled "bed" or "jungle gym" either, so it's not anything that a child should be allowed to climb or lay on no matter what or where it is. They don't have to be able to recognize it as pricey art to recognize it as something they aren't invited to run amok on.
It doesn't matter if the work is priced right or overpriced, it's not the child's possession, the child isn't at home, they should know they aren't to treat it as if it's their possession and act like that in public. It shouldn't make any difference to the child or the parent if it's a 10 million buck sculpture or a cheap plant pot, it's not a chair, it's not theirs, it's not for touching.
If a kid is old/mature enough to visit the art museum, they're old/mature enough to be expected to behave and not touch or climb on the art. If they're still so little that being little should be an excuse, they're still too little for the art museum. Try taking them to the park or the zoo instead. They'll have more fun and not likely harm anything.
It wouldn't help. First off, being forced into a job for a little while wouldn't create the immersion into the lifestyle of the people who aren't just in it temporarily. The most important things that could be learned from seeing how the other half really lives aren't necessarily stuff you'd get from working some shifts at the same place they work. It would be exactly like how being a tourist is nothing like being a local. If you've vacationed somewhere, yeah, you might know a wee bit more about that place than someone who's never been there. But it's nothing like the experience of having lived there full-time long-term as a real local.
Secondly, just having "been there" for a brief while isn't what makes a real difference in people's behavior and treatment of others. You don't treat waitresses nicer because you know what it's like to wait tables. You don't treat store cashiers nicer because you've run a register. You treat waitresses and cashiers nice because you are a decent human being who has empathy and common courtesy and respect for other human beings. Treating others well isn't shaped by having done their jobs or been around people like them for a few hours a day for a few months. It's about the bigger picture. If the basic "We're all people. These are humans that I'm interacting with. We should be good to them." is not instilled well enough in someone for whether they've personally done their job for a little while or not to matter, doing that job for a little while isn't going to amount to much at all.
As awesome as it was to do it once, doing it every year seems like it would painful for the daughter. Calling off your wedding isn't the kind of thing that's no big deal. If I were the bride who didn't end up getting hitched, I would be absolutely happy for folks who needed it to get something nice out of the unfortunate situation my cancellation created. But I wouldn't want to be reminded annually about that time that I was planning to get married and it fell through. That would bring up old heartbreak and negativity every single year.
Discrimination isn't something to be "laughed off". Yes, a salesgirl in a posh store not showing a woman an incredibly expensive handbag is nowhere near the kind of serious discrimination incident that many minority people face everyday. But it's still not something worth just dismissing. It still shows how that mindset of prejudice is still alive and well and that is must be stopped.
It's super tasty. I think part of what makes it extra delicious is that the bun (by necessity) is fresh and house-made. They obviously can't just get them from a regular bread distributor since they're such a specialty item. So they make them right there on sight. Same for the gigantic patty. You can't just buy a box of prefab huge patties. So that (like all the other burgers there) is definitely all fresh never frozen hand formed meat.
Ed Walker's is in my hometown! Yay! I didn't see it mentioned in the article, but Ed Walker's other local claim to fame besides the gigantic burger and the terrific French Dip is that it's the only restaurant in the state with curbside beer. You just flash your lights and the waitress will happily bring you a beer right to your car. Arkansas has some seriously strict alcohol laws (we still have dry counties, no alcohol on Sunday,etc.), but Ed Walker's has been running continuously in the same location under the same license so incredibly long that its license to sell drive-in curbside beer right in your car is still grand-fathered in from back in the day before drinking in the car was seen as a pretty well universal no-no. You can sit in your car and have a gigantic burger and wash it down with an ice cold brew. :)
I thought that's what bars and counters were for. I hate dining alone at a table. But it's not so bad at all at a countertop style seat. It not only feels less weird, but occasionally also encourages a little social interaction to actually be less lonely. If the person next to you is friendly and interesting, you're no longer dining alone, but meeting someone new.
I see the wedding gift as being more of a symbolic thing than anything. When it comes down to it, few people these days really NEED any of the things they get as wedding gifts. I've picked items off of several registries the last few years and I can assure you that not a single couple I was buying for was in need of any of the things on the list. And the kind of couple that could shell out enough for a wedding reception that would cost 100 dollars a plate most certainly isn't the kind of struggling young newlyweds that still could genuinely use the help of their family and friends to have what they need to set up a proper house together. If they can throw a hundred dollar per guest shindig, they probably shouldn't be soliciting gifts in the first place, of neither the wrapped box variety nor the envelope variety,and even if they thought it was okay to encourage folks to give gifts (really, people are probably going to bring even if you ask them not to, it's just such a tradition that no one wants to show up empty handed no matter how well-off the bride and groom are), they're certainly too well-off to complain that gifts were inadequate.
Especially with a food gift like that, there was no reason for the giver to ever know that the couple wasn't crazy about it. It's a consumable good. They can go on forever thinking you ate the treats and enjoyed them. It's not even like something that's going to be durable and you're going to feel obligated to keep around even if you don't need or like it so that they won't know you don't like. The proper thing to have done would have been to give the food they didn't want to some neighborhood kids and send a thank you note (they wouldn't even necessarily have to mention the gift if they were just so bothered by it, just a "thanks for being a part of our special day" kind of deal would work) and move on with their lives.
If anything, the reception is to offset the expense and inconvenience to the guests who shared your special day with you. They give up at least a day off to attend and many spend money on the trip to the wedding, things to wear for it, etc. A nice party is nice if it's something you can give back to them to enjoy with you. If you can't afford a fancy party, that's okay,too. People are happy to celebrate with their loved ones regardless. But just because you could afford to and opted to have a nice reception doesn't make anyone you invited obligated to pay for it. Your wedding guests are your GUESTS, you're supposed to be treating them.
Secondly, just having "been there" for a brief while isn't what makes a real difference in people's behavior and treatment of others. You don't treat waitresses nicer because you know what it's like to wait tables. You don't treat store cashiers nicer because you've run a register. You treat waitresses and cashiers nice because you are a decent human being who has empathy and common courtesy and respect for other human beings. Treating others well isn't shaped by having done their jobs or been around people like them for a few hours a day for a few months. It's about the bigger picture. If the basic "We're all people. These are humans that I'm interacting with. We should be good to them." is not instilled well enough in someone for whether they've personally done their job for a little while or not to matter, doing that job for a little while isn't going to amount to much at all.
Especially with a food gift like that, there was no reason for the giver to ever know that the couple wasn't crazy about it. It's a consumable good. They can go on forever thinking you ate the treats and enjoyed them. It's not even like something that's going to be durable and you're going to feel obligated to keep around even if you don't need or like it so that they won't know you don't like. The proper thing to have done would have been to give the food they didn't want to some neighborhood kids and send a thank you note (they wouldn't even necessarily have to mention the gift if they were just so bothered by it, just a "thanks for being a part of our special day" kind of deal would work) and move on with their lives.