Are You Afraid?

By - February 26, 2013

We live in a culture of fear, where everywhere you turn, someone is telling you what you should be afraid of next.  Plane crashes account for very few deaths in comparison to say, automobile accidents, but media sensationalism surround plane crashes causes far more folks to be terrified to fly than to climb into their Buick.  The number of shark attacks is relatively low- in 2008, only one shark fatality was reported as opposed to the 709 deaths related to faulty toasters (Side note: Perhaps the title of the movie should be changed from the Brave Little Toaster to the Deadly Little Toaster).  And yet, while we’re over here worrying about plane crashes and sharks, here are a few more things we aren’t worrying about that maybe be we should be: 

Overly Graceful Birds

In 2012, a swan charged a kayaker’s overturned boat and actively blocked him from swimmer ashore.  This resulted in the death of the kayaker, Anthony Hensley.

Antiperspirants

In 1998, a teenage boy died after inhaling too many deodorant fumes from aerosol deodorant spray cans unintentionally.  It seems the boy was obsessed with hygiene, so he applied and reapplied deodorant so frequently that he breathed in far too many toxic fumes when he sprayed his entire body with deodorant multiple times a day in a confined, not well-ventilated area.

Stupidity

In 1871, Clement Vallandigham, an attorney, was defending a client in a courtroom when he drew a pistol to demonstrate that his client could in fact be innocent, because it might’ve been possible the murder victim his client was on trial for killing could’ve shot himself.  The gun Vallandigham was demonstrating with happened to be loaded, and he accidentally shot himself in the leg.  The bullet hit his femoral artery, and he subsequently bled to death.

Toilet Paper

Jonathan Campos decided he had had enough of his imprisonment in Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, so he decided to commit suicide—by stuffing large quantities of toilet paper into his mouth.  Eventually, he died of asphyxiation.  (Side note: Then again, maybe we should’ve put this one under the stupidity headline).

The moral of the story?  I’m not really sure.  Maybe it’s that anything can kill you, including toasters, so if we live life afraid of everything, we’ll never truly be living at all.  So, get on that airplane!  Plug in that appliance!  Swim with the creatures of the deep and live a little! 

Then again, toasters might kill people, but they aren’t running around biting off arms.  Hm.  Scratch that.  Maybe you should just watch the creatures of the deep on the Discovery Channel while you’re eating your toast and jam.

What are you most afraid of?