Reflections: Is it really dangeorus?

No surfing today. So some reflections.

 

Today at work, I am walking to the copy machine this morning, and passed by an exec. He says "What happened?" and say "A surfing accident... (you know)"  He says "Mavericks?" and adds "I am amazed that you are still alive." Today, I come home and a letter from my mother in Japan is on my chair. I open immediately, and the letter opens up, "How is your injury, I am very worried about you."

 

So, due to the sport I am involved in, I have attained automatically the status of being a dangerous stunt-man who attempt to kill himself on a daily basis. I should not speak, because there was a time, I thought the same thing.

 

(This is where I would put together an old GE school-house electric clock hand moving rapidly backwards, a B & W sequence, 20 seconds).

 

Back when I arrived to the Bay Area, I went to "The A & W" (most of you probably don't know where this A & W was, if you did, you would know how far back I had been in here.) Anyhow, I was looking at the dudes behind the counter and just about everyone had a bruise on their face or lacking a teeth or two. They could not say the word "Thank you", because the "Th" would not be possible to pronounce. By now, I am sure that most of them had moved onto the North Shore by now. But my initial impression was "how stupid these people are!"

 

Now, I am surfing just in front of that establishment almost on a daily basis and in the water side of it, instead of on the sand side.

 

So, is it dangerous?

 

I have a Braun hand mixer, and I use it often to mash potatoes or mix a batch of potato leek soup. Is it dangerous? Is it more dangerous than surfing. Sure bet. I can lose my thumb with it if I stick it in to the blades while it is on.

 

I have a car. Is it dangerous? Sure bet. All I have to do is to just turn the wheel to the left 30 degrees for 10 seconds and hold onto it while I am driving at 45.

 

So is it more dangerous than the Braun or my car?

 

I will leave that conclusion to you.

 

But in the end, I think that we want to make surfing "look like" a very dangerous sport. It just elevates you and me into another social status. When I say I surf, people are very interested in knowing about it. People will respect you.

 

Aren't you glad?

 

~~~ MB