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Grammy, a few months ago a high school kid dropped and broke a thermometer in the classroom. They quarantined the entire school for about five hours while the hazmat crew came in and cleaned it up. They were scared the kids would track the mercury through the school. It made for some lively discussion on the talk radio station.

I am all for keeping mercury from being spread all around, but lets get real as to what is a serious threat and what is not.

When our thermometer broke (in the late 50's) I played with the mercury for a while before mom made me throw it away. I rolled it around on my hands and tried to pick it up etc. I am now 52, with no problems caused by touching it. Couldn't a teacher have just picked it up with a piece of paper, or gotten little pieces picked up with tape? Hazmat for 5 HOURS???

The reason I react to this is that by over-reacting to something like mercury, they trivialize what is truly dangerous. No, mercury is not a plaything..... but I also don't see it as a 5 hour hazmat danger either.