This selection was found while looking for some tips on blisters and burns. Earlier today, after hiking along a river, my friends and I were peering over the edge of a dam when my nutty dog decided she’d like to see what was on the other side of the ledge. She went flying over the wall, and before I knew it she was dangling from her leash above the murky waters by the bank, about ten feet down. She dropped into the water seconds later, but luckily my friend was able to climb down to retrieve her as I held on. She was wet and uninjured. My fingers suffered a bit of leash burn, however. Ow ow ow.
I didn’t find anything in the books to help my particular injury, but did get a laugh out of the seriousness of the introduction to Everyday Safety, written by William A. Evans. With chapters on “Safety in the City,” “Safety in Rural Life,” and “Safety in Recreation,” this excerpt pretty much sets the tone of the book: have fun, kiddies ~ but too much fun is dangerous!
1952: Carelessness
Who Am I?
I am more powerful than the combined armies of the world.
I have destroyed more men than all the wars of the nations.
I am more deadly than bullets, and I have wrecked more homes than the mightiest of guns.
I steal in the United States alone over $500,000,000 each year.
I spare no one, and I find my victims among the rich and the poor alike, the young and the old, the strong and the weak, widows and orphans know me.
I loom up to such proportions that I cast my shadow over every field of labor, from the turning of every grindstone to the moving of every railroad train.
I massacre thousands upon thousands of wage earners in a year.
I lurk in unseen places, and do most of my work silently.
You are warned against me, but you heed not.
I am relentless.
I am everywhere ~ in the home, on the streets, in the factory, at railroad crossings, and on the sea.
I bring sickness, degredation and death, and yet few seek to avoid me.
I destroy, crush and maim; I give nothing but take all.
I am your worst enemy.
I am CARELESSNESS!!!
Source: Evans, William A. Everyday Safety. Chicago: Lyons and Carnahan, 1952.
~ p. vii ~