Rising from tragedy
Imagine if you will buying a bottle of medicine for a headache and having just the cotton ball to go through. Or taking your kid(s) to mall and not be overly concerned for their safety. Back at the start of the 1980's that was fairly common. Then two incidents months apart from each other occurred that made us look at our safety and security and enact changes to protect both. The first happened in 1981 Hollywood, Florida where 6 year old Adam Walsh was shopping with his Mom. He became separated from her. Not a major concern back then, usually an announcement on the P.A. system or being found by store personnel usually rendered happy results. But this time was different. This was not a lost kid but a abducted one. The boy's sever head was found a few weeks later and the search for the killer was on. While suspects came and went the boy's father John Walsh became an advocate and spokesperson for change in how missing children cases was handled. Police departments was either created or overhauled and The FBI created a national database. Crime-stopper tip lines was established to help capture criminals of all crimes and a new show was launched on TV: "America's Most Wanted". Hosted by Walsh, this show in it's twenty plus years of existence has help with the capture of more than 1,000 fugitives. Police in Hollywood a few days ago closed the case as it was determined that a man who was in prison and died there ten years ago was the killer of Adam Walsh. He gave a deathbed confession to family members it was revealed. The second happened in Chicago in 1982 and nearly brought down a popular product and company. "Tylenol is a popular over the counter analgesic. People who is sensitive aspirin or just wanted an alternative found this product to their liking. But this as was every other OTC drug sold then was not packaged very securely. Except for child proof packaging, getting relief for your headache or other ailment was as simple as opening the cap and removing the cotton. But some unknown, and still uncaught, perpetrator changed that. Some bottles of the product was laced with cyanide and placed on the shelf of a Chicago store. This terroristic act killed several people and led to Tylenol to be pull from the market. But swift action and reaction by the pharmaceutical company and it's parent company Johnson & Johnson saved that product and was successfully returned to store shelves. So now you got shrink wrapped packaging, a plastic band around the cap, a foil seal over the opening of the bottle, and the cotton ball. Your headache may eirher be worse or gone by the time get to the tablets, but the secure knowledge of knowing that product is safe and tamper free is worth it.