Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Dale, Arizona on February 21, 2011:

My first memory of considering myself "mature" was around 16 or 17 when I felt it was important to learn from the mistakes of others. I feel it has served me well.

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I wonder what percentage of the population never has that realization? I'm sure it's high enough to scare us all.... -rc

Posted by Mike from Dallas on February 21, 2011:

All of life is tragic. You die from it.

Some people work harder at making it happen even faster, and I find that pretty funny. That's why we have the Darwin Awards.

I don't like other people telling me what I should find funny or not. And I'm tired of people using the proverbial nameless, faceless "children" as the excuse for dictating what I read or see. My kids handle it a lot better than many adults.

Posted by Chris, Australia on February 21, 2011:

There's nothing wrong with pointing out stupidity that results in death. Hmm, time I checked Darwin Awards, there's probably been an update...

Most deaths around trains result from stupidity (or suicide - hard to know the difference once the person's dead). Stupidity and lack of respect. When there's 200 tons of solid steel moving at, say, 30km/h (we'll be generous and assume it's pulling in to a station), we're talking millions of m kg/s. That sort of energy doesn't dissipate any faster when you're in front of it, and all you're going to do is give the driver a traumatic day. I'm told that, in the city and suburbs of Melbourne, there's one such death a week - at that rate, how long will it be before the city runs out of idiots to kill?

With a good writeup, a story like this can entertain as well as scare, and as you say, that's the first step - making people want to read it. Well, I think you've succeeded on that score. True is an extremely welcome break when it 'dings' into my inbox!

Posted by Felix, Dutch Flat on February 21, 2011:

Way back in the pre-telephone days, when communication was slow, stories like the ones in TiT were how common sense was spread. If some farmhand lost a finger because of some dumb move, or a horse died, or a barn burned down, word spread around, and others learned not to do that. I am sure there were many jokes, that's just human nature. But it helped spread the word and educate people.

So you are really an old fashioned kind of guy at heart, I think...

Posted by Tony, Japan on February 22, 2011:

Keep an eye on that Mike in Pennsylvania; Some half dozen (or hopefully many more) decades from now your great grandson, or whoever is running this show then, will need to give him an Honorary Unsubscribe, marking the outstanding life that he continued to lead.

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You're probably right, Tony! But let's hope he's too famous to be in the H.U.! -rc

Posted by Neil, Cheshire, UK on February 22, 2011:

Somehow, the idea of making someone's death mean something always disturbed me. I'm talking about using it as an example after the fact, of course, not of deliberate sacrifice. I completely support the use of examples as a warning to others (I wouldn't be getting my money's worth from reading TRUE if I didn't, would I?) and I, likewise, would want my own kin's examples to warn others if appropriate, but to say that a death that should never have happened becomes more meaningful by preventing other deaths that should never happen? It doesn't ring true for me. It seems to me that it's meaningful to prevent pointless death if it's possible to do so without dying in the process, which hopefully makes your job a very meaningful one. Keep up the good work!

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Well, *I* hope to help prevent pointless death without dying in the process! But I see and honor your point. I've been told by readers they have learned lessons from TRUE, and have even had a couple of people say it kept them from ending their lives (though I don't believe I published those), so I have to say it works on some level. -rc

Posted by Claire, France on February 22, 2011:

While I appreciate the sentiment, I find it worrying that you think that anyone in their right mind needs to be educated to not run along train tracks listening to music through earphones. It should be obvious with only a modicum of though that that's a daft idea (along with riding a bike and driving a car under the same conditions). I suspect readers of True (ha, just realized (doh) why you don't abbreviate it!) are capable of making that analysis. I fear you're aiming at the wrong audience.

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No, adults in their right minds don't need such basic lessons. Their kids do, though, and true stories like this which parents can share with their kids are great lessons. Parents probably won't think to lecture "Don't jog on the railroad tracks!", but might they say "Look what happened to this dummy!" will not only be a great thing to communicate, but it's something most kids will actually listen to. And, as I said, the lessons don't have to be this extreme; there's plenty of subtlety that (yes) even smart and common-sensical adults can learn from. -rc

Posted by Victoria, Towson on February 23, 2011:

Thanks for the reminder to subscribe for another year. I love reading your stories. And I love to make fun of these dumb people. If I did the stupid things they did, I would have to expect someone to make fun of me. I don't even remember how long I have been reading your stories. And I love getting more stories in each edition. Thanks again.

Posted by don lacrosse, wi on February 26, 2011:

One can make the same statement about people on the road, jogging, walking, biking with their ears plugged in to whatever is on their mp3 player be it music or news. You lose one key sense, hearing, which you really need with cars coming and going.

No problem here on spelling out the obvious to me.

Posted by Mike from Dallas on February 26, 2011:

One might think that it's "obvious" and overstated, but I find that what's obvious to me is not so to many more people around me. Ever hear a train horn, especially at close range? There's no MP3 player loud enough to drown out THAT noise. If there were, it would make you deaf, which renders the concept of an MP3 player pointless in the first place.

Speaking of deaf, being able to hear things around you is not a prerequisite for walking, jogging, biking or even driving. However, being deaf does require extra awareness using your other senses, at the price of self-preservation. And there's the problem.

Awareness is NOT a factor for most people, especially when driving. What with talking on the cell phone, texting, fiddling with your radio, trying to eat without dripping onto your legs, doing your hair or make-up, catching up on that company report on the seat next to you, or trying to read the Sports while you drive, or as one guy I saw, typing on his laptop computer, and I even heard about someone KNITTING while driving.... Well, with 2 tons of Killer Machinery in your hands and under your foot, moving at 88 feet per second, awareness is apparently NOT obvious to a vast number of drivers (nor to joggers on railroad tracks).

Randy can keep on stating the Obvious, and 500 years from now it will be just as pertinent. Although [obviously] it will be his descendants keeping our descendants entertained.