One of those days
Today was one of those days. On my way to work, I was almost wiped out by a truck that cut a corner. I was stopped at a stop light. He cut the corner, almost hit me broadside, and just kept going. As he passed by, he looked over my way with a look on his face that said, “damn, I almost killed that guy”. As he passed, I saw him struggling to turn the corner to merge onto the freeway and keep control of his truck, all the while talking to his cell phone.
I think cell phone usage is ok while you drive as long as you are on a totally hands free system. Take mine for instance. It’s a Blue Tooth wireless ear piece. Totally hands free. If I get a call, it automatically takes the call, and all I have to do is talk. At the end of the call, it hangs up. I’ve touched nothing. People who have to hold the cell phone while driving should not be driving.
Work was ok. It was an intense day. I’m a bit down today. I got to work early so I left work at 3:30 and went to the health club for a workout. I didn’t check any news. Why bother myself with depressing news? I know, that’s an awful thing for a news junkie to say, but sometimes you have to listen to your little voice inside.
There is the world outside that we can’t control. To a large extent, our lives in this country are controlled by the laws that are put into place and the actions of legislators. Many of them have only contempt for families like mine. That I can’t control. But, I can control who gets through the door of my home. And, I can control what news, or the lack thereof, that enters my home.
Tonight, my “news” is the works of JS Bach and JC Bach. It occurs to me that life was so different when they were alive. The didn’t have a lot of the pressures we have today. But, they also didn’t have a long life expectancy. Many didn’t live past their childhoods. Today, people live into their 80’s and beyond, as a norm. It’s easy to understand why Social Security needs revamping.
4 Comments
Leave a comment
Coincidentally, something very similar happened to me yesterday. I was stopped at a busy residental intersection, waiting go forward at a two-way stop.
A woman in a huge SUV approached from my left to make a right turn. But, she took the turn too wide and stopped just inches from my driver's side window. She was talking on her cellphone and tried to execute the turn with one hand on the wheel.
She had to wait until I crossed through the intersection in order to complete her turn -- holding back the traffic behind her. And, the entire time, she never put down the phone!
We sat there in close proximity for several minutes and she was totally involved in her conversation -- unconcerned that 1) she almost hit me; and 2) she was holding back traffic on a busy street.
It's true what you say about life expectancy in the times of Bach. Life was very uncertain and if you made it into the 60's, you were considered to be very old. On the uncertainty of life in that age, I remember years ago in a college music class studying Dietrich Buxtehude. He died in 1707 they think around the ripe old age of 69. But, he would have lived longer had he not had an unfortunate accident. In those days, it was customary for the conductor to keep the beat by pounding a wooden poll on the floor, thus creating this thumping noise (the beat). This was before batons came into being. As Buxtehude was bringing the poll down, he brought it down on his foot. The foot was injured and bleeding. As a result, he developed an infection which turned into gain green. He died as a result. There were no antibiotics, let alone the need for general cleanliness. In that day, the smallest thing could kill you.
Music composers of that day, even the great ones such as Bach and Mozart were largely used and abused. For most of his life, Mozart worried about where the next meal would come from. Some even left town in the middle of the night to avoid paying the bill.
I have great admiration for Bach. Despite criticism from his peers that he was too "old school" (boring and outdated), he kept doing his own thing despite that criticism which to me, only further proves the man's complete genius and validity. Think about it... the Baroque Period died the year JS Bach died (in 1750 at the age of 65). Why? Because he was still composing music. A complete musical era was kept alive until 1750 because of the influence of this one man.
As for life expectancy. The statistic that is so often referred to is skewed. It takes into account all social levels at the time. The differences between classes varied even more than it does today back then.
Someone of the merchant or upper class with relatively steady nutrition and less exposure to disease could live to a ripe old age. Look at some of our "Founding Fathers" - well into their 70's and '80s.
As for cell phones. If you're going to ban them, then please ban kids, makeup, and passengers in cars. I've narrowly escaped a wreck more times from mothers turned around backwards yelling at kids or putting on makeup in the mirror or someone chatting away with their passenger rather than watching the road - than I ever have with people on cellphones.
Recently it became a criminal offence in the UK to use a conventional mobile (cell) 'phone whilst driving (even with a stationary vehicle and the key in the ignition would probably qualify); handsfree units remain just about acceptable from a legal perspective. Tallies with what you say.
As for JS and JC (not to mention CPE and WF) Bach, they had other problems. The greatest of them, JS Bach, worked for years as (effectively) a 'day labourer' churning out music for his patrons; it is quite amazing that a great deal of the work he produced is amongst the most sublime ever written. However he did manage to live for 65 years, a pretty good age in those days, possibly I think enhanced by his own stubborn (and completely justified) self-belief.