Tragic events involving crocodiles seemed to co-incide yesterday. As the media noted the first anniversary of Steve Irwin’s death, they were also reporting the death of a girl in PNG, dragged from her village by a crocodile. Awful stuff.
If that wasn’t enough, the night before, the new Mythbusters series started on SBS, with the first episode covering the Hindenburg, and… how to escape from crocodiles.
Two thoughts spring to mind:
A couple of months after Irwin’s death, I was chatting to a journo who had spent a fair bit of time with him over a few days. He said he really was the larger-than-life, full of enthusiasm person he appeared to be on TV. You can poke fun at him and the whole Australia Zoo phenomenon, but he does appear to have been a genuinely nice person who loved life, his work, and his family.
When it all comes down to it, most of us in the western world have pretty cushy lives. Okay, so some of us are facing health issues or homelessness or other things like that. But most of us have it easy. We might never have all the money we’d like, or all the stuff we’d like, but we’re not going to starve to death, be sent to work into factories among noxious chemicals, die in senseless violence, or be dragged from our homes by crocodiles.
All in all, we’ve got nothing to complain about.
So cheer up.
6 replies on “Croc day”
Daniel
I think I prefer Germaine Greer’s opinion of Steve Irwin to yours. Maybe that’s my nasty streak?!?
Rog.
‘most of us in the western world have pretty cushy lives.’
‘But most of us have it easy.’
‘we’ve got nothing to complain about.’
Daniel, comments like these are ridiculous. Get in the real world.
Nope, nothing to complain about in this country. But complain we shall…
Funny how similar events coincide like that, like APEC and the number 500…
Sometimes at work I’d rather be wrestling a crocodile I think. As far as actually being eaten by one? I’ll stick my day job.
Concede it is not bad, but it could be a lot better.
Sad day when the world lost Steve Irwin, honestly. Great guy, great dad, and a wonderful champion of wildlife. His daughter is a brave little kid. My daughter Sarah sees her on the Discovery Kids website and totally envies her for her lifestyle of being so close to animals.
As far we don’t know how lucky we have it, um, yeah really, we don’t. I had this conversation with a Facebook buddy a couple of weeks ago. Peter H, a CBC journalist said he appreciated my note when I expressed some thoughts about the CBC journalists who were hurt. How their families and friends and colleagues are left waiting at home, wondering “will they be okay?” How the soldiers families also are in the same state. When they kiss them goodbye, is it for the last time? Will they be seeing them again. How hard that must be. Then think, okay, you and I, in our Western societies. We just have to worry about red lights, late buses/trains. Our lives aren’t in danger EVERY single minute are they? We worry if our finger will get cut. Or if our toe will be stubbed. Or in Peter’s case, if his toenail will fall off due to too much pounding when he jogs. If that ain’t “minor” I don’t know what “minor” is I guess. Just something to hold close to your heart when you think “how lucky am I?” VERY….