From Ourselves

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I read the story of the guy who snapped in Florida and killed six people before the cops put a bullet in him to end the battle.

And it occurred to me.

All of the angst about guns and pyschos missing...

...all of the despair over loss of life...

...the hand-wringing about rights lost or rights retained...

It's never gonna' stop.

I'm thinking it's just a hold-your-breath type of situation.

Just hope you're not like the guy who was walking by the scene and was gunned down by a stray shot.

My job as a safety consultant for construction guys is a real eye-opener. I have a lot of chances to communicate information to a lot of men who age from 21-65.

"Your chance of surviving a fall from 16' or more is not good," I always say. Then I discussed the speed at which you fall and show videos on results of man meeting ground.

When I'm done I ask the question:

"How many of you will feel good about working 16' up without being protected? Will you do it after seeing this?"

"How much does it pay?" One of the guys yelled out.

And the rest of them laughed.

And therein lies the problem.

That same guy in the class went off for a few minutes:

"They make us wear helmets to ride our bikes. They make us wear seatbelts. They make us use fall protection. They want to tell us what to eat and drink and how to arm ourselves."

(Those bastards - THEY).

"They're trying to protect you," I said.

"From you."

And in the end it's a fruitless job.

"I don't need someone making up my mind for me," the vocal guy yelled out.

And maybe he doesn't.

But some people do.

They are just trying to keep us from killing ourselves.



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