"Free lockers" editorial on local news site

Lord Gonchar:

I think the key is just not knowing I should be dead by now.

That's interesting. I get a lot of mileage from reminding myself that if life were fair, I'd be dead by now, so I am playing with house money. Not so much with seatbelts, etc. but "I don't care if you think I'm a <whatever>, because this is me" sort of way.

Lord Gonchar:
Seatbelts and Sunscreen would be a great country song!

I mean, kind of already done, after a fashion anyway.

...and I'd even consider myself a casual Cake fan if asked.

I suck.

No, Cake sucks

Jim Gaffigan weeps Tommy. Why did you do that?

Lord Gonchar:

Just a thought...it's getting about that time to change up your avatar.

Close-up crop of the dude or keep it wide?

I was debating that myself. Love the dude's expression, but the full pic is pretty amazing.

Although his right eye is weirding me out a little. Tough call.

I split the difference.

EDIT - after further consideration I should probably go tighter.

EDIT EDIT - Went with a weird alternate version because Vater is a bad influence:

I'm done hijacking this now.

Point is, I live a very danger-filled life compared to many of you. I often wonder how I've managed.

Yeah, and I just had the thought that this dude holding the side view mirrors like handlebars (even though there’s a steering wheel, which I didn’t even notice until now) further illustrates your figurative middle finger to safety.

All I can think of when I look at any version of that pic is the real Mr. Herman.

"The future of the free world is riding with this one"

Vater:

...your figurative middle finger to safety.

Middle finger to mandated safety protocols and the pageantry and pearl clutching surrounding it all.

I can be safe at a perfectly acceptable level to myself without all the oversight while remaining zero additional threat to others.

And yes, if I ever found myself in a teeny hot rod like our new friend, AI Dude, I would absolutely take it out and ride it like that.

Being proud of doing something inherently less safe because it sticks it to the man is the probably the weirdest thing about you. I hope it's worth it.

Just found out my brother-in-law doesn't wear a seat belt because it is the law to wear a seat belt. Great philosophy.

Just the opposite. I'm determining the appropriate level of safety for myself - especially when it affects only me.

I'd act the same either way. I'm not acting to be defiant. I wouldn't suddely put the seatbelt on if the government said I shouldn't wear it.

I don't really adhere to what the government or an oversight agency or an enthusiast message forum thinks I should do in the name of preventive safety just because they say so. I take the information provided into account and act as I see fit.

I'm not proud of it. I'm comfortable with it.

Enough so, to discuss it. I've been an out of the closet seatbelt denier for a while now.

I sincerely hope all you helmet/seatbelt deniers are organ donors, I see the aftermath enough and your brain is really important. If you don’t want to protect it, fine, but if the worse were to happen please let your viable organs keep another brain functioning and hope you don’t have to live the rest of your life with Traumatic Brain Injury.

Lord Gonchar:

Middle finger to mandated safety protocols and the pageantry and pearl clutching surrounding it all.

I'm not acting to be defiant

I take the information provided into account and act as I see fit.

Lord Gonchar:

especially when it affects only me

I’m going to guess that at least your wife and kids do not agree with this.

Does anyone follow 100% of all safety/health recommendations? I know I don't. Seems to me we all make our own assessments to a large degree. Like a buffet taking what we deem reasonable/worth it and ignoring what we don't.

There will be a tendency for people who make the same decisions as I make to be viewed (by me) as acting reasonably. And people making different decisions are acting unreasonably (being too cautious or not cautious enough).

I have friends who stopped downhill skiing when they turned 40 because they didn't want to risk blowing out a knee with long term issues. Am I being wreckless continuing to ski in my 50s (much less my dad who was almost 80 when he stopped skiing)? Or am I making different risk/reward decision?

I know people who limit time on bikes to exercise bikes because they think the risk of falling is too great. Work with someone who wiped out on a bike (with a helmet) and could have died. Year removed still has limited mobility in one of his arms which at this point isn't expected to improve. Is riding without a helmet what makes one unreasonable or is it riding at all? Will everyone agree on an answer?

Brian Noble:

I’m going to guess that at least your wife and kids do not agree with this.

But we can say that about anything that could accelerate my road to demise.

And if one of them gets preachy about eating McDonald's or some ****, I'm smacking 'em upside their stupid heads.

We all make choices.

Some of the choices here seem more rooted in fear than most of my life choices.

(And it's interesting to me that certain kinds of "risky" behavior trigger people and others don't make anyone blink twice)

Also...pretty much the entirety of GoBucks post above this that popped up as I typed my response.