Thursday, June 09, 2005
Serving Suggestion
The latest commentary from Pat Sajak, ”Warning: This Essay Could Cause Drowsiness,” is on the absurdity of current product warnings, and the greater culture of unacceptable risk. It gets ridiculous. It’s a slippery slope, too. You start with warnings and laws that are marginally silly or seem a decent nod toward safety. You slide into Risk Management for Dummies territory in short order.
As Pat says, in part:
We are living in an age when the only acceptable risk is no risk. But where do we draw the line? If 55 miles per hour is less lethal than 65, as many highway safety advocates claim, isn’t 45 mph even safer? Why not 35?
The argument often put forth by those who worry about such matters is, “If it saves just one life, it’s worth it.� But that’s simply not true, nor is it practical. Skiers are killed and seriously injured every year, but there’s not much call for banning the sport. People die in bathtub and shower falls almost daily, but no one is suggesting an end to bathing.
The way I always think of it is you can strive to eliminate all risk because you don’t want to die, but how can you be said to be living at that point.