Please, DON'T TOUCH

I would ask the parents ahead of time to ask the child not to touch, but instead to ask if he/she would like to listen to some music.

If they are interested and end up touching your stuff the best approach is just to remind them to please come get you if they want to listen to music.

If you feel that the child in question is unlikely to obey (and I'm not judging the child here .. some kids are more inquisitive, and push the boundaries more than others) then I'm afraid the only answer is to move your gear temporarily into a room that is designated as off limits.

Watch out for small toys going in bass reflex ports as well. A friend of mine had to have his Kef reference speakers dismantled at the Kef factory to remove toy soldiers.

"Somewhere along the line, I hope, that mature adults will be able to keep that advertising influence in check."

There's a whole ad. industry dedicated to making sure that doesn't ever happen. We are so immersed in advertising that, and the advertising industry is so manipulative that is very difficult for folks to step back from it all.

Recognize also that there's a difference between being wedded to ones posessions, and simply not wanting to be put in the difficult situation of having to pay a lot of money (which we all have to work for) to get something fixed. When we goof and break something we feel stupid, but if friends or family break something expensive it is quite an arkward situation.

Portugal ... I think a very good move.

After reading the thread I agree with Bombaywalla's statement that as a society we are wedded too closely to our posessions.

Bombay, I agree that we, in the west, are too wedded to our material posessions (and I can only speak of us westerners having only lived in Europe (27 years) and the US (10 years)).

However I am firmly of the belief that people the world over are fundamentally the same, and the only reason that westerners appear to be more materialistic, is because we have the opportunity to be materialistic. As the opportunity opens up in India and China so will those people become more materialistic and fall into the same trap as us westerners.

Westerners spend their entire lives surrounded by advertising, that, from a young age, is devoted to persuading you that you are defined by what you buy. Is it any wonder that we're a bit screwed up !?