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Not the right answer
May. 17th, 2012 07:01 pmI told two Bay Area friends that a cyclist got killed in Portland yesterday in a collision with a truck. They both responded, apparently reflexively, "That happens all the time."
First, that is not the right answer in response to a death. Would someone say that in response to a driver getting killed in a collision, even though that really does happen "all the time"?
Second, no, it doesn't happen all the time in Portland, nor in the Bay Area either. One of them amended it to, "Well, once or twice a year," when I challenged her.
It seems like one of those ideas that's spread around and uncritically accepted, without looking at the validity or callousness of it.
For the record, bicyclists do not die "all the time." It's a tragedy and there's a huge outpouring of emotion when it does happen. It's a loss for everyone, including the truck driver who has to live with the emotional and possibly legal consequences.
Compassion, people! And if not compassion, MANNERS!
First, that is not the right answer in response to a death. Would someone say that in response to a driver getting killed in a collision, even though that really does happen "all the time"?
Second, no, it doesn't happen all the time in Portland, nor in the Bay Area either. One of them amended it to, "Well, once or twice a year," when I challenged her.
It seems like one of those ideas that's spread around and uncritically accepted, without looking at the validity or callousness of it.
For the record, bicyclists do not die "all the time." It's a tragedy and there's a huge outpouring of emotion when it does happen. It's a loss for everyone, including the truck driver who has to live with the emotional and possibly legal consequences.
Compassion, people! And if not compassion, MANNERS!
