THESE TIMES

We had a trampoline in the backyard for our kids when those two kids were kids, and for 10 years I had to put up with safety Nellies telling me how dangerous trampolines are, especially ones not surrounded by netting.

I heard stories about broken backs and quadriplegia and fractures and dislocated shoulders and broken teeth. I heard people cite statistics about trampolines being a leading cause of emergency rooom visits.

Sometimes, those people shared their own involvement in trampoline-related mayhem.

Most of the stories were pointed at me as though I was ignorant of a trampoline’s risk, and...