On 11/23/2014 8:44 PM, Stan Labinsky Jr. wrote:
And I have a pet peeve with all of this.
Likewise.
Far more are injured, climbing, driving (without seat belts, helmets,
safety gear). I don't have the stats for climbing, but with cars we
kill more than 30,000 a year, down from 50,000 before seat belts, air
bags, and crush zones. There are many times that number crippled for
life. The value of lost wages, medical costs, and personal care (home
or professional) is huge.
If the risk taker also provides income for a family, what then?
I've reached that point in life where age is catching up. No more
climbing, no more yard work. Think of the people that put themselves
and their families in this position due to lack of responsibility. We
expect age to bring limitations, but what about when we are the direct
cause of those limitations?
We all grow old, but taking responsibility is something else. It may be
us taking the risks, but family, friends and work share in the
problems, Accidents raise the cost of items produced because of higher
insurance premiums, overtime wages to cover for you, and a whole bunch
of expenses to take care of the injuries.
The, "I wanna be free" ignores the load (financial and emotional) we
place on others.
A friend was injured climbing and it's not uncommon. Another was
crippled for life in a motorcycle accident, and another was killed when
he hit his head on a curb while riding bicycle with no helmet. These
were all people I knew. I've seen similar stories on the reflectors.
They were dismantling a tower. They were down to 30 feet left when
something happened. Whether something broke the temporary guys, or they
failed for some reason, the 30' stick broke. He ended up, badly broken up.
When a person lives with pain and on pain killers they can get difficult
to live with, or they can no longer provide for a family
In all those cases a divorce followed. The injured was left/deserted by
those he or she expected would at least offer emotional support.
Remember "No man is an island?"
73
Roger (K8RI)
I remember the furor raised over the motorcycle helmet laws. They may
be the right... the smart, thing, but why should I be forced to do
"the right thing"... "I wanna be freeee!"
And you could come down on either side of the argument, but, consider
what happens to those who are stuck with the taking care of Mr. I
don't care about doing the reasonable thing, "I'll do what I d^#n well
please and if it's free climbing or crashing my bike without any
reasonable self protection, tuff!"
The folks who didn't experience the wreck get to experience the
protracted long-term care of Mr. I don't give a s#!t. They get to
spend what should be theirs to keep his broken body running... does
that seem right to you? These folks get to sit in anguish over a
life... no lives turned on end.
I think that there should be a document created that would force the
dare devil to release those who would otherwise be saddled with the
result of his (or her) trying for a Darwin Award of any financial
responsibility caused by their behavior. That includes the folks who
don't even know that this individual even exists... except when they
step up and pay their tax burden.
If that seems a bit cold... so be it. But, it may just cause some to
wake up and see that their behavior affects more than just themselves.
Now, taking off his curmudgeon hat and donning his flameproof drawers,
he remains...
Stan... born back when that Nazi was sharing his insanity with the world.
-----Original Message----- From: Patrick Greenlee
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2014 9:33 AM
To: 'Towertalk'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] And we talk about free climbing !
Darwinian natural selection is thwarted in many instances these days as
society moves to protect those who would be eliminated if left to
their own
devices. This is not a good thing for the long term benefit of
society and
in aggregate is self destructive to the human race. You can swing too
far
in the other direction as well with such as eugenics as practiced by WWII
Nazis. Virtually every time man has meddled in nature with such
actions as
importing English sparrows to kill out a specific moth the results
have been
a disaster. The moth is gone and so are many of our native birds
displaced
by those sparrows.
More specifically, let people free climb if it is their freely made
choice
and not an imposition of an employer. Let nature take over and Identify
those to eliminate. The rest of us will keep an eye peeled for
bargains at
SK estate sales.
Patrick NJ5G
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73
Roger (K8RI)
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