Now he doesn't know 7+17

[Rebecca]

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy drank gasoline for five years to obtain "energy" - just as his idols "Bumble Bee" or "Optimus Prime" do in "Transformers," the Sichuan-based West China Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

After the boy, in Yibin City, southwest Sichuan Province, had watched the animated TV series, he began to drink gasoline to become a "valiant fighter" like "Optimus Prime," his father told the newspaper.

"He began to drink gasoline five years ago, when we found he liked smelling lighter fuel," he said.

The boy's mother owned a grocery stall, selling small goods such as lighters.

In 2004, she often found lighters missing two or three days after she'd bought them. She later found that her son had been stealing them.

The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again. "But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.

IQ dropped

They locked the motorcycle away after that but the boy began to steal gasoline from neighbors and was drinking more and more - two or three bottles at a time.

"Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and now he can't figure out simple addition and subtraction," the father said.

"Before that, he was a very smart boy, and he could even repair the television. But now he does not know the answer of 7 plus 17."

The worried parents finally took their son to hospital where they were told the boy had a mental disorder and a strong "gasoline dependence."

"The gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people's brains. To make thing even worse, the boy is in the physical development stage, and the lead has caused serious damage to his body," Peng Houquan, a doctor from a hospital in Yibin, said.

"Transformers" is now a Hollywood blockbuster movie franchise and the second live-action film is currently breaking box office records in China.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" has gained 400 million yuan (US$58.4 million) in the country, breaking the record set by "Titanic" 10 years ago.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200907/20090720/article_407995.htm

Discuss.

 

[lauralynne]

I have nothing to discuss. Only a comment - WHAT THE CRAP?!

 

[AZChins]

Huh? What is wrong with a kid that he'd want to drink gasoline? You can't blame a cartoon for the kind of mental disorder that would make a kid do that!

 

[tunes]

Anybody smell a lawsuit coming out of this? My kids watched transformers and power rangers for years. They didn't try to jump off a building with their capes, nor did they drink gasoline.

Their son sounds like he's totally off his rocker.

 

[alli713]

Ewww can you even imagine the taste of gasoline?? gross!

Honestly, why would it take them 5 years to finally do something about it? You could even get high from smelling it, so they should have had a small indication that something was a little off...

 

[Ashley]

Wow.... If the kid has been drinking gasoline, you have to wonder how "normal" his IQ was to begin with....

 

[AZChins]

LOL Yeah...must have been a normal kid before the introduction of gasoline to his system.

 

[Laurie]

Not sure how the dad could have mentioned his son was smart before he started drinking gasoline. IF YOUR'E SMART YOU DON'T DRINK GASOLINE!

My heroes growing up were The Six Million Dollar Man, you didn't see me trying to run faster than a car! Aquaman--you didn't see me calling dolphins with my mind, The Man From Atlantis (before Bobby Ewing thank you Patrick Duffy!) you didn't see me swimming around trying to save the world! Even Tarzan was my hero and I had to give up my dream of being a missionary in Africa driving around in my Winnebago because my dad told me Tarzan was not real and I didn't want to drown in quick sand!

These parents probably drank gasoline too because they clearly are idiots!

 

[AZChins]

Like Fetal Gasoline Syndrome? If there were such a thing...

 

[saphire]

hummm people never cease to amaze me....
and yes tunes, I smell the lawsuit... but how can they win with 5 years of not being close enough to your son to smell gasoline breath, if that is really a true story.

 

[Melissa]

I know there are disorders or whatever where people crave weird things. There was someone on the Tyra show that ate flour. My friends mom ate bbq charcol while pregnant because of an iron deficiency. Maybe this boy was craving it?

Again, however, I would have to blame the parents. They should've taught the boy the difference between reality and make believe. And that what he was doing was unhealthy. Not just tell him "not to do it."

As for the 7+17. I blame society. I ws just having this conversation with my supervisor the other day. We have 29 servers. About 20 of them do not know how to count back change. They have to go back and use a calculator. Or rather give more(to the next dollar) so they dont have to count the coins back. Which is great and wonderful if you have the time to double check your work. But when you have a guest with an addiction who needs to hurry up and get back to a game you need to be quick.

We had 5 servers on the other night and we asked 3 of them "If the bill was $12 and the guest said keep $4 for your change and they hand you a $100 bill how much would you give back and how would you count it back to them."

One gave back $96. Another gave back $74 and another asked for a calculator. None of them were about to count it back. These are people 19 24 and 27 years old! We rely too much on computers and calculators. I, by the way, didnt know my computer/register had a change button to press to get the exact change. I had to do everything in my head. My boss doesnt understand how my drawer is dead on.. to the penny with out me using a calculator or my register change button.

Here is something fun to do! Next time you are at the register at a store or where ever, pay cash. Give them something they need the change button for. Then say "Oh wait! I have xyz" and make them count back the change. You will be surprised how many people cant do it, take a long time to do it or get flustered.

 

[menagerie]

In 2004, she often found lighters missing two or three days after she'd bought them. She later found that her son had been stealing them.

The parents talked to their son and asked him not to do it again. "But afterwards we found our motorcycle's gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything," the father said.

They really don't have a leg to stand on for a lawsuit. They knew it was happening and didn't do much to stop him.

 

[3CsMommy]

Here is something fun to do! Next time you are at the register at a store or where ever, pay cash. Give them something they need the change button for. Then say "Oh wait! I have xyz" and make them count back the change. You will be surprised how many people cant do it, take a long time to do it or get flustered.

Believe it or not, Melissa, at my store, once the drawer is open, we can't take additional monies. So if someone gets 2 prescriptions for a total of $10.73 and hands me a $20.00, they're getting $9.27 change out of my drawer if they don't give me coins before I hit that "cash" button. Period.

That "fun" delay you're talking about is a prime time for scammers to try the "I gave you a fifty, I need more change" trick, so Corporate made a "no change, no exceptions" and "once it's open it's done" rule to protect themselves and us. Even people that are good enough to do the subtraction mentally second-guess ourselves when it's done on the fly in a noisy, busy environment full of distractions, and we can't trust people to be honest, or even nice most of the time.

 

[eroomlorac]

I'm surprised it didn't kill him. Or maybe it will eventually. That couldn't be very good for his liver.

 

[EnslavedByNinjas]

What gets me, is I'll buy something for, say $6.00, and give $11.00 to the person working the register. They look at you like you're insane. "Uhm, you gave me too much money..." "I know. Give me a five back instead of a bunch of ones."

I'm not really known for my common sense, but there's plenty of people out there that make me shake my head and laugh.

 

[mishellyshel]

I think if my son drank gasoline and i found out about it, I would take him to the hospital and not just tell him to not do it anymore. Bad Parenting. Stupid kid.

As for the change thing, my parents used to own a deli and customers used to try and trip me up all the time with that whole change thing.
Nowadays if you come up with the change after the transaction......you are beat. Most kids cant figure out the change anyway, mostly because they were raised with calculators, just like their children will be raised with a new technology.

 

[Spoof]

The gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people's brains.

Given they're still using leaded gasoline, I'm also surprised he's survived this long. Letting it go for five years just blows my mind.

I don't recall any of the transformers drinking gas, been awhile since I watched the cartoon though.

 

[smhufflepuff]

I've never really slopped gasoline all over myself, much less inside myself... so I was wondering: doesn't it burn? Wouldn't he have chemical burns in his mouth and esophagus that would have caused him to stop this addiction a long time ago?

 

[Spoof]

so I was wondering: doesn't it burn? Wouldn't he have chemical burns in his mouth and esophagus that would have caused him to stop this addiction a long time ago?

Only if he mixed it with something else. It evaporates pretty quickly and doesn't burn when you get it on you, it's like isopropyl alcohol. It does stink though, yuck.