The Ones the Wolves Pull Down, Redux
Yesterday Mama Zen asked a serious question, and me being me I gave a flip answer. Sadly, I do a lot of that. The thing is, I think she deserves a better answer.
The question is why do people pay more attention to their failures with respect to the people we try to save than to their successes? For instance, if some nurses came across a traffic accident and managed to save the passenger, but lost the driver, why talk about the one that died more than the one that lived.
I think maybe it had to do with learning curves. A survival can be marked down as a success – something that went the way it was supposed to. Unless the number of successes is so small that a survivor becomes an aberration, it is easiest to categorize it with all the others like it. A failure, on the other hand, is something to learn from.
Could the failure have been turned around with the addition of a blanket? What about more pressure during CPR? Quicker response to any lacerations? A check for internal bleeding? It’s important to know these things. It’s important to care because there might be another situation like it, and you don’t want to do the same things and end up with the same results. Especially when you are talking about someone’s life.
Add in a measure of guilt or how one values oneself, and the stakes get so high you can’t NOT think about it.
Am I on the right track? What do you think? Have you ever made a mistake you couldn’t help but obsess over?
161/365
First it snows, then it melts, then it’s too cold to snow, then snow, then rain. Crazy weather we’ve been having lately.
Hum Bug
Once a year the Hum Bug, a coal-black creature no bigger than a fingernail, makes his home at the bottom of a Christmas stocking. When the milk and cookies are gone, the bug emerges to fly into the nearest ear and hum. Woe betide the unlucky child who must hear Jinglebells the rest of the year.
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13 Gifts I’m Not Giving
In a perfect world I might give some of these:
1. A laptop for my son. I naively thought I could pick one up through eBay for around $100. Hope springs eternal.
2. An African drum to my mother. I have the drum, but she’s the one who’s been to Africa.
3. Word Peace (of course, though I’ll still hope for it.)
4. Free copies of my book to anyone who wanted one. It’s in my contract that I’m not allowed to do that. It’s not available until February anyway.
5. Kisses to anyone but Mr. Al, who gets more than he wants anyway, mistletoe or not.
6. Glass menageries to my best friends from high school who were in the play.
7. Sims Pets software. Sorry, kid. I forgot. Instead I’ll give you…. 🙂
8. An elephant, not even a plastic one, so don’t ask for it.
9. Plane tickets to anyone going anywhere, though I’d love to be able to.
10. Snow tires for Mr. Al, which so far have turned out to not be strictly necessary, but I’ll tell you a week ago I could have used them. Ever hear of “drifting” with respect to driving?
11. A sleigh and some miniature reindeer.
12. Cherry pie, but only because Mom’s is better.
13. Ice cream to go with the pie, though I’m tempted to hop in the car and go get some.
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More Thursday Thirteen participants can be found here
Emily/Randomability
storyteller at Small Reflections
Paige Tyler
Debbie Cairo
156/365 Fireplace
I used to live in a house with a great fireplace. I love having a fireplace. It gives me peace of mind to know I can light a fire whenever the weather overwhelms my furnace – something that has happened to me on several occasions.
This one was particularly nice because the lay out of the house fed the heat to the otherwise unheated upstairs. It had an insert to keep the chimney from turning into a huge energy drain when the fire wasn’t lit, but you could still see the fire inside if you kept the tempered glass clean.
Now I bake.
How about you? How are you keeping warm this year? Or if you’re on the other side of the world, how are you keeping cool?
When You’ve Said Budwiser, You’ve Said it All
I know, I know. I have no taste. But you’ve got to admit it’s funny.
155/365 Snow on the Roof
The Boy had fun digging the holes in the snow. I was paying him to clear it all off. He decided to have fun along the way.
With Styrofoam
To get those strings of lights, you just put Styrofoam cups over medium or large outdoor bulbs.
Run, Jill! Run!
Jack: You think I’m out of shape? I’ll show you!
Jill: Tee hee!
This one is directly related to last week’s Photohunt post:
Today’s theme is fast
Previously in Jack and Jill Mouthing Off
Saturday photo scavenger hunt
The rules for Photohunt can be found here.
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