After I hit the publish key on yesterday's blog entry, it occurred to me that the national teen seatbelt use percentage isn't necessarily representative of teens in Laurens County. Last year when I taught at WLHS, I would occasionally glance at the bulletin board that had monthly seatbelt use stats posted and had us pitted against teens at East Laurens. For the life of me I can't remember what those numbers were, but I'm pretty darn sure it was higher than 59%. Being part sleuth or bloodhound, I wanted to find out specifically. So, I called WL to ask. Unfortunately I was unable to coerce anyone to dash out into the hall to peak at the board for me. From the sounds on the other end of the phone I think a herd of elephants and rhinos were stampeding into the main office. They gave me the number of the gal to call with South Central Health District. I dialed the number and got no answer, voicemail, fax beep or anything but about nine rings until I hung up. I then checked to see if SCHD had a website. It does in Idaho as well as GA. From this site, I was able to learn the number of chlamydia cases reported in Laurens County, but not seatbelt use. I give up, for now, anyway.
Then I stumbled upon a 2005 column by Walter Williams about the unfairness of seatbelt laws. Mr. Williams, along with my father, believes that there should be no law that forces us to protect ourselves. I can see both sides of the issue. It's really sad that there has to be a law for that. I mean isn't it human nature to want to protect yourself? Oh yeah, these are teenagers I'm talking about. I have a seven year old son who wants to launch his bike off our roof. Not buckling up would be a no brainer to him. I think that may have to do with testosterone. Myself, on the other hand, I consider not flossing to be living on the edge. I mean if our dining room chairs had seatbelts I'd click mine with every mean. Not because I fall out of chairs often, but if a safety device is there, I use it.
So, I'm curious, what do you think about seatbelt laws? Should there be a law to keep us from killing ourselves? I think if we're going to have legislature like seatbelt laws, we should also have an anti-stupidity law and a law that keeps people from smoking and a law that keeps people from over-eating and a law that keeps people from murdering each other.....oh yeah. They already thought of that one. There should definitely be laws against bad toupees and obese people wearing spandex and miniature dogs wearing designer clothing and misuse of apostrophes and the American League designated hitter rule and Hillary Clinton and raisins and garbage bags that won't open and bad breath.
I think I'm done for now. Next time I promise to write something with a point....
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Buckle Up, Kids. It's a Life or Death Matter
I would 100,000,000 times rather write something light and humorous that would bring a chuckle than have to tackle this topic. But, it's like cleaning toilets. Sometimes you have to get in there and tackle the dirty work, or in this case give a lecture to super human, invincible teenagers.... like they're going to listen. But it's worth a try.
This morning, while scanning the press releases on PR Newswire, I ran across something that bothered me greatly. A study released today by Meharry Medical College claims that teenagers aren't buckling up for safety like they should be. 59% of teens always wear seatbelts when driving; but only 42% of them click the buckle when riding as passengers.
I can hear one of my homeroom students from last year whining "what's the big deal? I never wear one." (when they had to fill out their seatbelt surveys) Weeelllllllll, let me tell ya. Accidents in motor vehicles are the leading cause of teen deaths in the U.S. accounting for nearly 5,000 each year. The LEADING CAUSE of DEATH for TEENS. Yes, I'm shouting. In about 40% of those accidents, the passenger is killed.
But what do seatbelts have to do with that? By merely reaching up, grabbing the buckle, pulling it across your lap and clicking it into place, you reduce your risk of dying in an auto accident by 50%. That's half for those who, like me, aren't math majors. So, if everyone wears a seatbelt, we could potentially cut the number of teen deaths down to 2,500 each year. I would come up with brilliant statistics with the other numbers too, but as I said, I'm not a math major. Heck, I'm not even a math passer in most classes. But, that's not the issue here.
I know the arguments against using seatbelts.
1) "They're too confining." What are you trying to do? Jumping Jacks from the front to backseats? Yes, if you're using your vehicle as a gym, perhaps seatbelts are a little confining, but if you're just sitting there watching scenery pass, you don't need to break into a sweat.
2) "The strap rubs against my neck." They make strap covers now, or you can put it under your collar.
3) "It doesn't look cool." How does being dead look?
4) "I always forget to put it on." Yet you remember to plug in your phone and your iPod, find the right song and turn it to the right volume all while continuing the three texting conversations you've been having for the past hour. I think you can manage adding one more step to the routine. Heck with the gadgetry we drive around using these days, wearing a seatbelt is that much more important.
5) "I'm a good driver. I'll never be in a crash." The thing that breaks my heart because I lost my brother this way, is that good drivers are hit and killed by bad drivers and even distracted drivers everyday. It only takes a split second for someone you love to be taken away from you forever.
These are just a few of my thoughts on the matter. As you can tell, it's one I'm passionate about.
To read the entire news release and recommendations for increasing seatbelt usage, visit the following link.
http://www.prnewswire.com/yahoo/
This morning, while scanning the press releases on PR Newswire, I ran across something that bothered me greatly. A study released today by Meharry Medical College claims that teenagers aren't buckling up for safety like they should be. 59% of teens always wear seatbelts when driving; but only 42% of them click the buckle when riding as passengers.
I can hear one of my homeroom students from last year whining "what's the big deal? I never wear one." (when they had to fill out their seatbelt surveys) Weeelllllllll, let me tell ya. Accidents in motor vehicles are the leading cause of teen deaths in the U.S. accounting for nearly 5,000 each year. The LEADING CAUSE of DEATH for TEENS. Yes, I'm shouting. In about 40% of those accidents, the passenger is killed.
But what do seatbelts have to do with that? By merely reaching up, grabbing the buckle, pulling it across your lap and clicking it into place, you reduce your risk of dying in an auto accident by 50%. That's half for those who, like me, aren't math majors. So, if everyone wears a seatbelt, we could potentially cut the number of teen deaths down to 2,500 each year. I would come up with brilliant statistics with the other numbers too, but as I said, I'm not a math major. Heck, I'm not even a math passer in most classes. But, that's not the issue here.
I know the arguments against using seatbelts.
1) "They're too confining." What are you trying to do? Jumping Jacks from the front to backseats? Yes, if you're using your vehicle as a gym, perhaps seatbelts are a little confining, but if you're just sitting there watching scenery pass, you don't need to break into a sweat.
2) "The strap rubs against my neck." They make strap covers now, or you can put it under your collar.
3) "It doesn't look cool." How does being dead look?
4) "I always forget to put it on." Yet you remember to plug in your phone and your iPod, find the right song and turn it to the right volume all while continuing the three texting conversations you've been having for the past hour. I think you can manage adding one more step to the routine. Heck with the gadgetry we drive around using these days, wearing a seatbelt is that much more important.
5) "I'm a good driver. I'll never be in a crash." The thing that breaks my heart because I lost my brother this way, is that good drivers are hit and killed by bad drivers and even distracted drivers everyday. It only takes a split second for someone you love to be taken away from you forever.
These are just a few of my thoughts on the matter. As you can tell, it's one I'm passionate about.
To read the entire news release and recommendations for increasing seatbelt usage, visit the following link.
http://www.prnewswire.com/yahoo/
Bleary-eyed Mom of Two Rambunctious Night Owls Attempts Starting Day Without Coffee
You know there's something so horrific about discovering that you're out of coffee. This morning as I desperately rummaged through my freezer, eyes half closed in a foggy dreamlike state, I was hit with that very crisis. If it were a movie scene, I'm sure the music from the shower scene in Psycho would've been playing in the background. Yes, it was that terrible and shocking. I found three boxes of uneaten corndogs, five petrified popsicles from a company that's long been out of business, a couple of waffles from long ago, a half gallon of birthday cake flavored ice cream and about four pounds of ground beef. But no coffee, not even a handful of grounds spilled on the freezer floor that I could try to work with. Nothing, nada, the caffeine cupboard was bare.
Now, if this were any regular old morning, I could probably cope. I'd make a cup of tea, perhaps pop open a Diet Pepsi and try to make do. But today was different. Why, you ask. Because, I got approximately two hours and nine minutes of sleep last night. That's why. I wound up sharing an inadequate queen sized bed with two of the most active sleepers in the known world. My sons, ages seven and three who are scaredy cats about thunder and lightning and I'm a wimp at saying "no, you can't sleep with me now get back up to your rooms."
So, after I turned in at 11:30 the night progressed with Andrew sleeping soundly on the left, grinding his teeth rhythmically, kicking covers off at five minute intervals and taking up a good one-third of the bed's surface area. Jack was in the middle, arms and legs stretched out far as if he was trying to make a "bed angel" taking up the other two-thirds. Every now and then, he would encoach upon my corner and attempt to use my head as a pillow, crashing his skull into my forehead just as I was nodding off. He mumbled something about granola bars once and flung his arm across my mouth. I was doing okay sleeping in 15 minute intervals until 3AM. It ws then that Jack decided to try sleeping horizontally with his feet in my face. I think I was able to make this position work for me as long as at least one of my breathing passages remained unblocked. I probably got an hour of sleep that way.
At about 4AM, our cat Anakin jumped onto the bed and nuzzled up to me with a constant purring in my ear that could've easily been mistaken for an idling motorcycle. He also began nudging me impatiently to pet him. I threw him off the bed. He landed with a thud and jumped right back up there. I threw him down again. Again, he returned. And so it went with the boomerang feline for a good ten minutes.
At about 5AM, some random neighborhood dog began barking incessantly for an hour.
At 6AM, my alarm went off and I made the grizzly discovery in my freezer.
Now, it's 10:30 AM. I'm too awake to sleep and too asleep to function. Forget functioning. I'm going to Starbucks while there's still one in Dublin. Give me an extra venti quintuple shot latte with extra whipped cream.
Now, if this were any regular old morning, I could probably cope. I'd make a cup of tea, perhaps pop open a Diet Pepsi and try to make do. But today was different. Why, you ask. Because, I got approximately two hours and nine minutes of sleep last night. That's why. I wound up sharing an inadequate queen sized bed with two of the most active sleepers in the known world. My sons, ages seven and three who are scaredy cats about thunder and lightning and I'm a wimp at saying "no, you can't sleep with me now get back up to your rooms."
So, after I turned in at 11:30 the night progressed with Andrew sleeping soundly on the left, grinding his teeth rhythmically, kicking covers off at five minute intervals and taking up a good one-third of the bed's surface area. Jack was in the middle, arms and legs stretched out far as if he was trying to make a "bed angel" taking up the other two-thirds. Every now and then, he would encoach upon my corner and attempt to use my head as a pillow, crashing his skull into my forehead just as I was nodding off. He mumbled something about granola bars once and flung his arm across my mouth. I was doing okay sleeping in 15 minute intervals until 3AM. It ws then that Jack decided to try sleeping horizontally with his feet in my face. I think I was able to make this position work for me as long as at least one of my breathing passages remained unblocked. I probably got an hour of sleep that way.
At about 4AM, our cat Anakin jumped onto the bed and nuzzled up to me with a constant purring in my ear that could've easily been mistaken for an idling motorcycle. He also began nudging me impatiently to pet him. I threw him off the bed. He landed with a thud and jumped right back up there. I threw him down again. Again, he returned. And so it went with the boomerang feline for a good ten minutes.
At about 5AM, some random neighborhood dog began barking incessantly for an hour.
At 6AM, my alarm went off and I made the grizzly discovery in my freezer.
Now, it's 10:30 AM. I'm too awake to sleep and too asleep to function. Forget functioning. I'm going to Starbucks while there's still one in Dublin. Give me an extra venti quintuple shot latte with extra whipped cream.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Yes, I think James Gregory IS the Funniest Man in America
For all of you who read my article last week wondering if the famous James Gregory is as funny as reported, here's the verdict. I went to the show. I laughed for ninety solid minutes. I got the hiccups. I almost chocked. I nearly lost bladder control and had to away tears several times Yes, he's that funny. My husband laughed for an extended period of time as well. Now, that's quite a feat. Even veteral comics have trouble getting more than a smile and a chuckle out of him.
If you missed the show, visit www.funniestman.com and purchase his DVD, Beef Stew for the Brain. I'm trying to post a picture of Gregory, but this darn thing won't let me.
If you missed the show, visit www.funniestman.com and purchase his DVD, Beef Stew for the Brain. I'm trying to post a picture of Gregory, but this darn thing won't let me.
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