And now, instead of putting them in the garbage, I will send ALIPAC all of my panty liners!

Corrected for clarity!

Ah, thanks. I knew that- I didn't realize we were talking about whale sharks, and not all sharks.

Whale sharks are completely harmless. They are slow moving filter feeders.

Best police blotter item ever.

Right, because there's nothing at all odd or attention-grabbing about a grownass woman carrying a giant heavy teddy bear around. On the plus side the first assumption will be that it's stuffed with heroin, so once they find out it's just a creepy holster for a giant vibrator it will actually be LESS alarming.

Just trying to stick with the theme. No need to get all Facebook balls on me.

Sure, what the hell. You think there's a way to send a rainbow cake through the mail?

Yup. I have a pediatrician friend who always asks to spend a few minutes with her patients without the parents so she can ask questions that the child might not be comfortable answering in front of the parents, including questions about abuse, drugs and sexual activity.

At my hospital, that's right on the intake assessment sheet. I have to ask it of everyone, and I always clear the room before I start!

Something similar is going on in the Vancouver area, where local school districts are introducing trans-friendly policies like allowing children to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as and not requiring school counsellors to report to parents if a child comes out to them as trans. Those against this are…

I actually logged on to say something similar. The mother's response is red flag consistent with that of an abuser. In my experience, no abuser wants the victim left alone with a nurse or doctor. (not saying this mom is abusive, just that she's acting like abusers that I have personally seen in action).

My pediatrician always had my parents go out of the room once I hit prepuberty (I stayed with a pediatrician for a long time because his specialty was teens and puberty) and it was always these questions. Questions that he knew kids weren't comfortable answer in front of their parents but that needed to be asked. It…

I had that a couple of times as a teen. I was strung pretty tight for a lot of reasons (mostly church and school), so I came across as "suspicious". A few times, the doctor or nurse found a way to get me alone and would ask if I was okay, if there was someone hurting me, did I need to talk to someone without my…

Yeah, exactly. Because of my childhood (my mother was abusive) and my first LTR (again, abusive), the mother going nuts about someone talking to her kid for 5 minutes alone would make me worry for that kid. My mom used to refuse to let me talk to the doctor alone, even though I was never there for something she did…

Yup. I know a 13 year old who's been asked these things twice in private with the doctor. I think it's a smart policy.

That was my first thought too. Seems like it would be a pertinent question for this woman's daughter. I didn't even think of sexual education as being the primary reason the doctor would want to speak to the teenager. It seems like it would be a very good idea to require that kids get the chance to speak unemcumbered…

I just really like pretty cakes.