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 It's a much safer world today

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Dick Stodghill
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Dick Stodghill


Number of posts : 3795
Registration date : 2008-05-04
Age : 98
Location : Akron, Ohio

It's a much safer world today Empty
PostSubject: It''s a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptySat May 23, 2009 8:40 am

A Stodghill Says So blog:
It's a much safer world today %2338+George+Connor+1946
Memorial Day, 1946. I was home from the war, bored with civilian life, craving excitement. The place to find it was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so I was there for the 500 mile race.
If you tune in ABC tomorrow to watch the latest version of the 500, don't expect to see anything like the one I watched 63 years ago. You won't see the 33 drivers sitting in the open in sprint cars while wearing a T-shirt or one they'd wear to work in an office. If you knew what a driver looked like you didn't need a program or a car number to tell who was speeding by. A belt across the lap was about all that held them in their cars. Death often rode as a passenger.
Tomorrow they'll be wearing fire-resistant suits and visored helmets. You'll barely see their heads and what you do see won't allow recognition. They'll have radio communication with their pit crew and a spotter giving them instructions. The speeds will be high, the danger minimal.
All that is good, and yet a little of the excitement will be missing. So will the sickening sensation of picking up a newspaper and finding a driver you have watched race has died in a crash. George Robson, winner of that 1946 race was dead in three months. Dying with him was George Barringer, another in that long-ago 500. During the next few years more of those 33 who took the green flag in '46 would die behind the wheel of a race car: Rex Mays, Ted Horn, Ralph Hepburn, Chet Miller, Shorty Cantlon, perhaps others.
Such a thing is unimaginable today. So is seeing Rex Mays pass a car coming out of the second turn and then look back with a grin on his face while slapping the side of his car in a "Let's race" challenge. It's not that personal in 2009.
It's a lose-a-little, gain-a-little proposition. No decent person wants to see a driver die tomorrow, but to make it unlikely we have lost the chance to see George Connor wipe his goggles with a powder puff fastened to the back of a glove. We won't see anyone slap the side of his car to issue a challenge. Nor will we see Shorty Cantlon hit the wall head-on at the first turn and be impaled on the steering post as he was in the 1947 500.
People in general are more concerned about safety now than they were back then. That may be good. Or it may not be. Everything that makes us safer means the loss of a freedom to be unsafe. Some prefer safety, some prefer freedom. Life doesn't allow for both.


Last edited by Dick Stodghill on Sat May 23, 2009 10:53 am; edited 1 time in total
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Carol Troestler
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Carol Troestler


Number of posts : 3827
Registration date : 2008-06-07
Age : 86
Location : Wisconsin

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptySat May 23, 2009 8:50 am

I think they call them "calculated risks" today.

I remember riding in the car with a baby in my lap with the other kids crowded into the back seat, before seat belts and protected baby seats.

Then there are people who love the excitement of danger and have to climb mountains or jump out of airplanes.

I don't know about freedom and safety. I think safety for my family is good, but we can still make choices.

And now when someone dies needlessly or because they weren't following safety procedures, we all hear about it and it is sad.
Carol
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LC
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LC


Number of posts : 5044
Registration date : 2009-03-28

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptySat May 23, 2009 9:19 am

I went to a NASCAR event a few years ago. After an hour of watching cars drive in circles, I left. Talk about boring.
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Don Stephens
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Don Stephens


Number of posts : 1355
Registration date : 2008-01-25
Age : 85
Location : Wherever my hat's hanging today!

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptySat May 23, 2009 9:58 am

Twisted Evil


Last edited by D. J. (Don) Stephens on Fri Mar 05, 2010 5:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Carol Troestler
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Carol Troestler


Number of posts : 3827
Registration date : 2008-06-07
Age : 86
Location : Wisconsin

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptySat May 23, 2009 10:08 am

It is sort of like going to a hockey game to watch for the rough stuff. Then there is LaCrosse where I'm not even sure there are any rules and safety equipment is at a premium.

I remember when kids didn't wear helmets when they rode bikes.

I think a lot of the safety is also for innocent bystanders.

I have always felt very free in my life, and laws for safety have never really interfered that away. I always think, "Well, that's a good idea."

Carol
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Domenic Pappalardo
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Domenic Pappalardo


Number of posts : 2557
Registration date : 2009-04-27

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptyThu Jun 11, 2009 9:30 am

Freedom? No one can take freedom away. True, those in power can pass laws. True, those in power can imprison. True, those in power can take life. They can kill, and eat you...but, they can't make you someone you are not.
Freedom is based on those willing to die. It will never be a gift of cowards.
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Carol Troestler
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Carol Troestler


Number of posts : 3827
Registration date : 2008-06-07
Age : 86
Location : Wisconsin

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PostSubject: Re: It's a much safer world today   It's a much safer world today EmptyThu Jun 11, 2009 1:12 pm

Domenic,

You can make some very profound statements!

Carol


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