Colm O'Regan: This shower are headed for Worst Government Ever title
Anyone who has spent any time minding a group of small children knows it: The tipping point. It goes like this. Children have a bit of a ‘moment’ and shout and scream but often, one or more of the other children will stand back, look at the unfolding situation and do some strategic thinking. “I will get more out of this by being neutral or even helpful right now.” They abstain from the tantrum. You think you have at least raised one of them right. They will get the next biscuit they ask for.
Then sometimes it doesn’t work like that. All the children go off at the same time. As if coordinated by a shadowy figure with a remote control. You are assailed at all sides. It cascades. In the middle of a tantrum, one child lashes out and hurts themselves off the corner of the table. You get stressed. The stress hormones leach out of your kneecaps. The baby sharks react as if there’s blood in the water. You get more stressed. It’s a negative feedback loop. It’s like climate change. Melting permafrost leading to methane burps and before you know the atmosphere has caught fire and everything has a weird orange Venusian glow. A spouse might pop in at that moment (optional) to ask if you’ve seen their keys and “what’s all this noise” and you just lose it.
