Hollering Out My Opinions

Aug 08

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” - The Boxer, Simon & Garfunkel

According to KosherDiapers.com their product’s Velcro fasteners have “no חשש, whatsoever - not when opening and not when closing the strips.”

(T)he gist of the issue is that the adhesive in most diapers use glue, which is “similar in effect to sewing” which is prohibited on Shabbos. Velcro, however, is okay…. “(D)iapers with velcro tabs are permitted because velcro achieves its stickiness by hooking, not by gluing.”

For the past week, I’ve periodically stopped by my local Chick-Fil-A and eavesdropped on conversations. (I know. How rude of me. It’s probably a sin, but I’ve committed so many others I’m sorta on a roll so I might as well go with it.) I am curious to learn if customers are still talking about the recent events surrounding the chain and if so what they’re saying. (I don’t buy anything while I’m there. I just browse the internet, using their WiFi, while listening to people’s conversations.)

Yesterday afternoon, I overheard a table of guys talking about these Kosher diapers. Apparently, they’d read Gothamist’s post. They were laughing & laughing about it. I couldn’t help but find this interesting and annoying.

***For purposes of full disclosure, I’m not Jewish but for a few years I “volunteered” as a Shabbos Goy for the tiny Jewish community that populated the city in which I lived at the time. In return for my efforts, I received many, many Jewish pastries and since I’m all about the food - particularly baked goods - it was an enjoyable arrangement (and, now that I think about it, probably a treasure trove for funny & insightful blog posts, but that’s for another day).***

Back to the topic of this post. Let me get this straight. They’re making fun of a product that’s been developed to conform with one religion’s rules regarding a day of rest while they’re eating at a restaurant that’s closed on Sunday in observance of another religion’s rule regarding a day of rest. I was going to point out this irony to them, but figured they’d be too blind to get it.