Choose Your Own Adventure
I was into reading mystery novels for a while in my early teen years, it was a nice break from the science fiction and adventure books I would usually read.
I remember reading stories about Hercule Poirot and his amazing ability to see an obvious clue where others could only see clutter and chaos. Sherlock Holmes was great too, the whole deductive reasoning thing went a little over my head but I enjoyed it none the less.
My favorite mystery stories were the ones where you could choose your own adventure and consequently; your own ending.
Some of you might remember these stories and the various points in the story where you would be prompted to choose how you wanted the story to unfold...IE "If you want Bobby and Cindy to push the red doomsday button and see what happens to the rocket aimed for the moon: Skip ahead to page 155. OR, IF you want Bobby and Cindy to leave the red button alone and open the creepy door and go down the creepy tunnel: Skip ahead to page 98."
Being an impatient and inquisitive sort I would always read all of the possible story paths and decide later which one I liked best.
Of course, no matter what adventure you chose Bobby and Cindy still ended up in some sort of bad situation where the outcome was basically the same...but in some cases the outcome was vastly different. Disturbingly different sometimes.
I was thinking back on these "Choose your own adventure" stories this morning after I had read about the 12 miners in West Virginia that had died after an explosion and subsequent collapse had sealed their fates nearly 2 miles underground.
A list of 10 of the mens names was released.
Alva Martin Bennet, 50
Jim Bennett, 61
George Hamner Jr. of Gladyfork
Terry Helms, 50
David Lewis, 28
Randal McCloy, 27
Fred Ware Jr., 59
Jack Weaver, 52
Marshall Winans, 49
Many of the friends, family, onlookers and viewers from around the world were understandably angry that these men had perished in such harsh conditions and so unexpectedly. Family and Friends were also very upset because of a glimmer of hope that turned out to be false...this anger is also understandable.
I do understand the anger, I do.
But I do not understand the confusion over how and why these men died, nor do I understand the deaths of these men being blamed on the mine officials and owners.
Every one of those men from Jim Bennet at the age of 61 down to 28 year old David Lewis chose their own adventure at some earlier point in their lives.
They knew the risks and the downfalls of the path they'd chosen and yet they got up everyday and chose that same adventure over and over again.
Rather than trying to blame the mine officials or the earth or God for those men not being around anymore, I think that we should be celebrating their lives and understand the fact that those men chose to be in that mine; even after they understood the risks involved.
I remember reading stories about Hercule Poirot and his amazing ability to see an obvious clue where others could only see clutter and chaos. Sherlock Holmes was great too, the whole deductive reasoning thing went a little over my head but I enjoyed it none the less.
My favorite mystery stories were the ones where you could choose your own adventure and consequently; your own ending.
Some of you might remember these stories and the various points in the story where you would be prompted to choose how you wanted the story to unfold...IE "If you want Bobby and Cindy to push the red doomsday button and see what happens to the rocket aimed for the moon: Skip ahead to page 155. OR, IF you want Bobby and Cindy to leave the red button alone and open the creepy door and go down the creepy tunnel: Skip ahead to page 98."
Being an impatient and inquisitive sort I would always read all of the possible story paths and decide later which one I liked best.
Of course, no matter what adventure you chose Bobby and Cindy still ended up in some sort of bad situation where the outcome was basically the same...but in some cases the outcome was vastly different. Disturbingly different sometimes.
*** *** ***
I was thinking back on these "Choose your own adventure" stories this morning after I had read about the 12 miners in West Virginia that had died after an explosion and subsequent collapse had sealed their fates nearly 2 miles underground.
A list of 10 of the mens names was released.
Alva Martin Bennet, 50
Jim Bennett, 61
George Hamner Jr. of Gladyfork
Terry Helms, 50
David Lewis, 28
Randal McCloy, 27
Fred Ware Jr., 59
Jack Weaver, 52
Marshall Winans, 49
Many of the friends, family, onlookers and viewers from around the world were understandably angry that these men had perished in such harsh conditions and so unexpectedly. Family and Friends were also very upset because of a glimmer of hope that turned out to be false...this anger is also understandable.
I do understand the anger, I do.
But I do not understand the confusion over how and why these men died, nor do I understand the deaths of these men being blamed on the mine officials and owners.
Every one of those men from Jim Bennet at the age of 61 down to 28 year old David Lewis chose their own adventure at some earlier point in their lives.
They knew the risks and the downfalls of the path they'd chosen and yet they got up everyday and chose that same adventure over and over again.
Rather than trying to blame the mine officials or the earth or God for those men not being around anymore, I think that we should be celebrating their lives and understand the fact that those men chose to be in that mine; even after they understood the risks involved.
Sometimes, even though we know the end will be the same no matter which path we choose, we still have to choose our own adventure and go along with it until the story ends; and hopefully the ending will be happy.
posted by Benji at 8:24 AM
3 Comments:
I hear you... BUT, the mining company has to accept liability for their part in this disaster. In the past two years, the mine was cited 273 times for safety violations, of which nearly a third were classified as "serious and substantial," according to documents compiled by the Labor Department's Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) The cost to fix the safety issues was over $100,000.00 the cost to pay the fines and keep getting written up was somewhere around $24,000.00. The mining company counted the cost and decided to take a chance. We all saw what happened.
p.s. Randall McCloy was the sole survivor of the mining accident.
I read all of that too...
But my point is that these men that died UNDERSTOOD these risks and yet they CHOSE every day to go back into that mine. I'm sure that nobody understood the risks they were taking better than the men themselves.
You can not dig 2 miles under the ground and mine coal and not expect an explosion, you just can't!
You can try your best to avoid an explosion and you can cross your fingers so tight that your knuckles pop...but at the end of the day if you really consider my point; no one is to blame for the deaths of those miners but the miners themselves.
It's a tragedy, there is no doubt about that...and it's very sad that these men have families that have to continue without them, that is probably the saddest thing...I also know that my opinion is not going to win me any popularity contests, but it's what I believe...We make our own destiny.
Ben, I removed the first comment because of horrific spelling (sorry).
Ben, I find your conclusions disturbing. The men who died understood that they were to be paid for doing something most men would never do. They understood the risk involved. Driving a car has risk associated with it. Driving an unsafe car has increased risk associated with it. The difference might very well be understood by looking at who owns the car or in this case, the mine and who ultimately is responsible for overall safety. The driver is expected to drive safely; the worker is expected to work safely. With this understood, the safe driver operating an unsafe car is in greater risk over and above his control. The same applies to the men who died, working safely in an unsafe mine. The car owner, the mine owner is responsible, not the worker and certainly not the workers families. What deaths of these men may be proved to have been the result of an employer placing them in an overtly known unsafe situation. That is criminal and the mining company must face the consequences. These men didn't deserve to die like that. They and their families had their destiny altered by what may be proved to be a company that ignored regulations and restrictions for profit. Ben, they never CHOSE that.
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