Life: Is it Unfair?

Yes it’s true.  We’re all going to die.  I hate to bring you this bad news, but it’s indeed true.

A few minutes ago on the local news, a local college professor said, and I quote, “Any parent who feeds their children meat is sentencing them to death!”

What kind of parent would sentence their children to death?  How horrible.  The Department of Social Services should step in and remove these poor children from the clutches of their murdering parents.  These parents should be sentenced to what?  Maybe death?  Does that sound about right?  Would death be too good for parents who willfully kill their children by feeding them meat?

I also recently heard on the radio an expert who said that every time you inhale second hand tobacco smoke, you’re shortening your life by 5 years.  Yep, he said it.  I have to argue with that one though.  If that were true, I should have been dead by age 4, unless I’m going to live to be 692 years old.  That’s only counting other people’s second hand smoke, much less my own.  Maybe I’m going to live a lot longer than 692, if the experts can be trusted.

On another radio station, a NFL type expert said that the only thing NASCAR accomplishes is killing people, both drivers and fans.  He said people get killed every year driving around in stupid circles, killing and maiming others as they go.  He told his audience that “untold numbers of fans die every year as the direct result of watching drivers going around in circles.”  I have news for you, buddy.  Untold numbers of people die every year from crossing the street to get in a cab or catch a bus.  A lot of people die when they slip on their steps.  Some people choke at restaurants eating salads too.

Every NASCAR driver, as well as any racing driver period, knows that every time he straps on that car or bike or boat or airplane, or whatever, that he or she might die.  That’s a given.  It’s always in the back of their minds.  They choose to take the risks anyway.  Some do it for the thrill of living on the edge.  Some do it for the money.  Some do it to become celebrities, whether it be on a worldwide basis, or just in their own communities.  There are as many reasons to race as there are potential racers.  I don’t know the exact stats, but I would guess there are anywhere between a few thousand to a few million people who wish they could sit in the driver’s seat that’s currently providing a place for the butt of their favorite driver to make a living in.

I’m not making fun of vegetarians here.  I have some very close relatives who don’t eat meat for religious reasons.  I can respect that.  Beliefs are beliefs, and they have theirs and I have mine.  I’m as likely to give up my beliefs as they are, so there’s no reason to contest our beliefs.  They are family, and I love them just as much as anyone else in my family.  I eat meat.  I like it.  To me, it’s protein that helps invigorate my body quickly, and I like the way most meat tastes.  Yes, I’m a steak and hamburger kind of guy.  I’ve never forced anyone to eat a hamburger.  I’ve tried to smoke alone or only around other people who smoke.  I don’t want nonsmokers to be violated.  I respect their wishes, and only hope they can respect mine as well.  That’s all I ask.

I have to laugh at people with PhD’s that try to scare people about how deadly life is though.  I mean, how deadly is life?  If you’re born, don’t you die?  Isn’t birth your one way trip to death?  As far as I know, the only person who once died who is still around is Jesus Christ, but that’s another religious thing, isn’t it?  That’s a matter of belief.  I suppose the belief that kids will die way early from eating meat is what?  A belief?

Kids get killed in traffic accidents every day.  Kids get killed by hitting curbs on their bikes.  Kids die.  That’s a fact.  I don’t know of anything sadder than hearing that a child died.  It’s not fair, it’s unjust, but so far, the human experiment has shown that sometimes kids die.  Sometimes.  One absolute is this:  All human beings die too.  It’s hard for many of you to imagine, but it’s true.  You’ll die one day.  So will I.  Whether it be from second hand smoke, eating meat, or turning stupid circles around a track, it will happen to each and every one of us one day.

In The Green Mile, a movie I would highly recommend if you haven’t already seen it, there is a quote.  “We all have a life to give.”  My theory about life is to give it all you’ve got.  It won’t last forever, no matter how much meat you don’t eat or how much smoke you don’t inhale.