986 ends up on second floor

[husker boxster]

My apologies and condolences to the parents and families. May you find comfort in your loss.

I would have a different emotion towards these young men if the situation would have had them enjoying a nice drive and were T-boned by someone who ran a red light or a drunk driver crossed the median and ran head-on into them. That would be senseless and random and very hard to understand. But that’s not the situation. Details are sketchy but we do know their vehicle flew a substantial distance through the air and landed in the 2nd floor of a building. No matter what the circumstances were to cause this, ultimately the driver was responsible and made this happen. He was the reason for this crash. Sure, you can blame it on youth or hubris or being indestructible or video games or anything else, but at some point prior to the accident survival instincts should have kicked in and they should have determined it was too dangerous and shut it down. Unless the throttle was stuck wide open, this tragedy did not have to happen. It wasn’t random. It was because of someone’s carelessness.

My parents instilled a belief in me about personal responsibility that I firmly am committed to today (I’m 60). You make decisions and are responsible for the outcomes of those decisions. There were decisions made by these young men and they paid the ultimate price. Better decisions would have gotten these two to breakfast that morning. Did their choice warrant my comment? No, but I made it and can’t take it back. Not a good decision on my part. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and 5 seconds to tear it down.

[maytag]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and 5 seconds to tear it down.

Ain't THAT the truth.

I'm not saying that I knew these kids. Nor that I don't think what they were doing was stupid. Certainly it was.

But here's what I try to remember when I see this sort of thing: I'm only one bad decision away from that being me. Same with my kids. As someone else mentioned here; we all survived some real stupidity in our youth. Some of it I probably SHOULDN'T have survived, but through the grace of God..... and there it is. Through the Grace of God I've avoided being the brunt of this same ill-thought-out humor and poorly-chosen words of judgement. How would any of YOU like to be judged, labeled, or otherwise defined by the single-worst thing you've ever done?

I expect more than that from myself. And I HOPE for more than that from those I interact with.

None of y'all are cold and heartless people (I assume), and so I expect that this is more about these young men being faceless to you. If these were your nephews, or your sons best friends, I suspect you'd be feeling it a little more closely.

As the resident Mormon of the group (haha) I'd challenge each of us to try to find empathy for all mankind..... not merely those who seem to never do anything wrong.



Now who's saying the closing prayer?

[piper6909]

I've stayed away from commenting on this tragic event, but I'll have to throw my 2 cents in. First of all, the loss of ANY young life is sad and nothing to joke about.

I don't know if these kids were bright, volunteers, church-goes or school students. What I do know is that it took more than a few seconds of poor judgement to get the car to a speed where it could be launched to the second floor. If 0-60 is about 5 seconds, imagine how long it would take to get to that speed. I suspect it wasn't the first time they drove like that. No one just goes out and does over 100 MPH on a secondary road on their first drive. And yes, they could have killed innocent bystanders. It's not my position to judge and I have no knowledge of whether these good young men were victims of a culture of privilege who've never had to suffer any consequences for their actions. (Until the accident, unfortunately)

As I said earlier, ANY loss of a young live is a tragedy. So we should show some empathy, and let's also show empathy for the kids that have sent back to the place they fled only to die at the hands of gangs or terrorists. I hope we show the same empathy when a child with a toy gun gets shot by a cop who couldn't possibly have assessed the situation before pulling the trigger because video shows the kid getting shot down within a fraction of a second of the cop car pulling up to the scene. Or the same empathy when a young school lunch worker gets shot after telling the cop that he has a permit to carry a firearm. Or all the children that got killed by indiscriminate bombings after the Stable Genius, after a phone call that no one knows what was promised, decided to relocate our troops from defending our Kurdish allies to protecting oil rigs. And, of course, those who have died due to some reckless driver. I could go on....

My point is this: There are lots and lots of kids who have died and continue to die because of no fault or no action of their own. I'd like to see empathy for them, too.

P.S. As I finish writing this, I see on the news about another school shooting in Santa Clarita, CA.....

[piper6909]

Wow... Talk about thread drift.

From a bizarre tragedy to someone fantasizing about someone else's flame from 35 years ago.

This has got to be one for the books.

[Frodo]

I prefer to think of it as mission creep though in this setting it's not particularly a big deal. It happens. Things—threads included—evolve. What's the harm? Nobody's required to read it.

I think it's more of an issue in the DIY-kinds of threads, where people don't want to wade through a lot of fluff to find what they're looking for.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by Frodo

I prefer to think of it as mission creep though in this setting it's not particularly a big deal. It happens. Things—threads included—evolve. What's the harm? Nobody's required to read it.

I think it's more of an issue in the DIY-kinds of threads, where people don't want to wade through a lot of fluff to find what they're looking for.

No harm at all. It was more meant in tongue-in-cheek than anything else. I was more than a bit amused by where the thread went, though. Could the OP or anyone have ever guessed it would take this route?



PS: "...mission 'creep'... " Was that pun intended? hahaha

[BYprodriver]

[QUOTE=piper6909;606870]No harm at all. It was more meant in tongue-in-cheek than anything else. I was more than a bit amused by where the thread went, though. Could the OP or anyone have ever guessed it would take this route?

2 years ago No, since then there are no boundrys. I wonder what has changed?

[Frodo]

[QUOTE=BYprodriver;606962]

Originally Posted by piper6909

No harm at all. It was more meant in tongue-in-cheek than anything else. I was more than a bit amused by where the thread went, though. Could the OP or anyone have ever guessed it would take this route?

2 years ago No, since then there are no boundrys. I wonder what has changed?

Well, for one thing we may be getting more nonsensical posts than we used to. Aside from that I guess not all that much..

[maytag]

Koombaya!

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[piper6909]

Originally Posted by maytag

Koombaya!

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haha! Want a flower to wear?

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by maytag

Koombaya!

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hahahahahahahaha

Wish I’d have said that!
I WOULD have said that, but yesterday I got busy with other—marginally more important—stuff to do around here.

Let’s build a campfire! Who’s got a guitar?

Originally Posted by 10/10ths

I will refrain from any more posts.

...today...probably..

[dghii]

Pushed a button. Moving on.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by dghii

Pushed a button. Moving on.

You and Myles Garrett.
A reasonable tactic at this point.

[marsheng]

Read most of the posts and yes it is a tragedy. I keep thinking how the sympathetic view would be different if there were young children sleeping in the room that they hit.

We all do stupid things as kids. I broke a back axil in a customers car by dropping the clutch at 2am in the morning, but, my guess, is + 100 mph on a public road is downright wrong. I have had cars airborne before on hilly roads but the best I could to is maybe 10 feet. Second story of a building is another thing altogether.

We have problem here in Christchurch New Zealand. 12 to 16 year olds steel cars and ride at high speeds (60+ mph) in the city. When the cops find them sometimes there is a chase. 3 ended up dead 4 months ago when the car hit a tree and burst into flames. The kids are often from institutions and this is what the do for kicks. So this sort of scenario is nothing new here. It is reported 3-4 time a year in the paper.

You can do stupid things but when you put others at risk, its never right. They had no respect for their fellow men. :ah:

[piper6909]

Maytag, please don't be offended. Mine was only meant as light-hearted humor. No offense meant.

[husker boxster]

Great... now I'm 0-2 on this thread.

[maytag]

Hahaha, c'mon guys..... I was playing along! No offense here whatsoever. Like I said, fester was a handsome feller.

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[piper6909]

Originally Posted by maytag

Hahaha, c'mon guys..... I was playing along! No offense here whatsoever. Like I said, fester was a handsome feller.

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Good! 'Cause there's more important discussions to get upset about, like politics and whether some noise sounds like a rod knock or not! (Which it wasn't, btw! )