Stingray’s Rule
September 6th, 2006 | by Chris Gidman |Sometimes life takes some really strange turns. Sometimes death takes even stranger ones. By now, you probably know that Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin is dead. He was stabbed in the heart by the tail of a stingray.
I always thought he’d get it from a crocodile. You probably did too. Instead, no, an unusual set of circumstances came together to kill him instantly. It’s sad really. If he had been killed by a crocodile a large percentage of people would have secretly thought, “Well, he had it coming.” When a smoker dies of lung cancer, we are less sympathetic than when he skids off the road in a blinding snow storm and crashes into a ravine. I recall a buddy of mine who got throat cancer and went a year with a strange voice and a scar on his neck. Never smoked a day in his life. Doesn’t even drink coffee. On the other hand, a different friend had been smoking more than one pack a day since he was 16. (Oh, probably 20 years at the time.) He had no troubles at all.
Life’s not fair. Neither is death.
Sometimes we use that inequity as an excuse to indulge in vices. “I gotta die sometime. So I might as well smoke.” “I’ve heard of people who exercise every day only to get hit by a car and killed at 30.” Yeah, we’ve all heard and even used excuses like these. But I wonder, why don’t I use that excuse to do something risky to make our lives better, as Steve Irwin did. I wonder if he thought, “I gotta die sometime so I might as well have a great time fighting crocs and entertaining the world.” Of course, if he says that, we label him as having bravado. If our neighbor eats a dozen donuts a day because he’s gotta die sometime, we just laugh understandingly.
We are pathetic. Okay, maybe it’s just me. But somehow, I think it’s not.
Just something to think about I guess. Perhaps this is my tribute to Steve Irwin. I didn’t watch his show. But, I knew of him. I thought he was stupid. But, in reflection, I think he was a lot smarter than I am.
Go get ‘em Steve! Crikey!
One Response to “Stingray’s Rule”
By Stephe Thornton on Sep 6, 2006 | Reply
Steve-o was a total nut. But he was a nut we should have been able to keep. I admired him for the kind of role model, conservationist, entertainer, son, father, and husband that he was. He was nowhere near perfect, yet was a man of true character, humble, an endangered species, something we are sorely lacking in 2006. Evil marches on, even as Steve-o is struck down. There’s something really wrong with that.
I would never have known male crocodiles were such considerate lovers with their sheilas. LOL! He said once that he thought Agro might outlive him. Well, here’s to ya, mate.
“Danger! Danger! Danger!!!”