Visiting an area with heavy snowfall, I was reminded just how stupid many of us can be.
After a night of heavy snowfall, a young professor stormed around the home flabbergasted that the private university she was employed did not cancel academic class. “After all,” she exclaimed, “my secretary called and said roads were awful. It was tough crossing some snow-packed highways, with some having ice.”
I simply stated, “Why chance it? Work from home.”
Fifteen minutes later my friend stated, “Let’s go to the store?”
“Why?”
“Well, the remaining Valentine’s day chocolate is half-off.”
“But didn’t you say road conditions were awful, even treacherous” I responded.
“Yeah, but the store’s a five minute drive.”
And with that, off she went … too treacherous for a drive to work but not treacherous enough to save a couple bucks.
Some conservative Christians claim nothing is random in gambling. As a determinative force, there is no such thing as Lady Luck or Lady Luck. God is sovereign even over the roll of the dice; He is the one who sovereignly determines everything appearing to be random.
As a Buddhist, this is the point within the blog narrative I would state that taking unnecessary risk causes suffering. And the Buddhist way to overcome suffering is by following the Noble Eight-fold Path.
However, being a former rescue man, I made a living pulling people out some strangest things: car wrecks, boating accidents, fighting a barnyard bull while drunk, sex games gone awry, murder, knife fights to drag racing. For instance, since the book “Fifty Shades” sold more than 100 million copies, London fireman have been called out to 393 incidents believed related to sex since April 2014, including 28 incidents involving people trapped in handcuffs. In November 2014, firefighters had to come to the rescue of a man who had a pair of metal rings stuck on his manhood for three days. I personally once rescued a man who stuck his penis into a vacuum cleaner hose … while the vacuum clear was on.
So are all of these things something God knew, created and laughed about? I’ll leave that up to you.
From a simple perspective, how does one know if the risk is stupid? Here are some thoughts:
- You rush the process. You perform no homework.
- Ignore feedback.
- You do something with no skillsets. A high school football player does not make one a hang glider in three easy lessons nor does an excellent home cook make a great chef.
- You worry about the details … later.
My friend made it to grocery store, having purchased 5 bags of Hersey’s Kisses at half price. Total savings $12.50. It never occurred to her that 23% of accidents occur under a mile from home. That percent increases exponentially in snowstorms and other inclement weather.
So was that $12.50 worth a lifetime? God only knows.