Giant Microbes (stuffed animals)

Bizarre indeed but such toys are rather funny than shocking... :D

Bizarre indeed but such toys are rather funny than shocking...

I know you mean well and no offence intended...but
In my opinion, although some of the toys are far less offensive, even benign, compared to others, the one's that represent chronic deadly horrible diseases that infect, maim, and kill thousands of unfortunate adults and children every day all over the world, could only be construed as funny because it is shocking that some one would find them funny and not shocking.

Each of our GIANTmicrobes® comes with an image and information about the real microbe it represents. They make great learning tools, as well as amusing gifts for anyone with a sense of humor.

Although I presume and have read that affected people may have some sort of therapeutic benefit from having one, that's their choice. Do you suppose a person who has a loved one or is stricken with one of these maladies would find someone laughing about it comforting?

"Look at my cute little E. coli, ha ha ha ha" http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930122&slug=1681248 while the young couple watches their 2 year old boy be eaten alive from the inside in mere days.

I am sorry to so serious but I do not think any one should take such matters lightly. Also I know that there are good E. coli but what about HIV, Streptococcus pyogenes, Hepatitus and now the new one Swine Flu?

By the way, have you ever had a bed bug bite you? I would assume that you may have dealt with them in some aspect being that you are associated with the hostel industry. But if you have not, !great! because believe me, you do not want this connected with your business. Look it up in Wikipedia. Bad news.

I believe you missed the whole point to these things. They are supposed to reveal the lighter side of things and at least let us laugh at some of the darker aspects of life. It is common knowledge that "laughter is the best medicine" and even cancer patients do better by visualizing their disease and imagining them destroying it. Obviously the contraction of these diseases is a terrible thing, but if we can't take their imagery lightly then how can we take the disease seriously?

On top of that, education is a noble cause. Perhaps the young couple who watched their son eaten alive could have avoided losing their child if their meat was cooked all the way through as is recommended by the FDA. A little knowledge goes a long way as far as disease prevention is concerned.

I understand if you have been traumatized by some medical condition, but for the purpose of educating the masses alone I don't see why anybody would be against these.

As for my reasons for this rambling about my feelings on this matter, I am sure many of us have known family, friends or acquaintances stricken with these terrible diseases, all I can say is I'm a sensitive person and I feel that ignorance is rampant in our world. One should never assume that all people have the good sense or desire to educate themselves about matters that are important in knowing the real story. I will speak no more on it here:o.