Upside-Down World
by: Vernon Stent
Why are so many more people frightened of aeroplane journeys
rather than car journeys? The risk of being injured in a car is
far greater than being injured in an aeroplane. I can offer this
theory: it’s because aero crashes are so rare and auto crashes
are so commonplace. This may sound like strange logic, but it’s
simple really. Does every car crash get reported on the news?
Of course not! There are too many of them. The carnage and misery
from auto crashes is so common that it is rarely reported. Yet,
a rare aeroplane incident, even a minor one, can reach the headlines.
This is because news is reported by exception. Usually, only
out-of-the-ordinary events are reported. In a generally good world
(well I think so, anyway) we are fed mainly bad news stories.
Understandable, as bad news is the exception. Trouble is, this
gives us an upside-down view of the world. Some of the greatest
killers in our world, such as cigarettes, automobiles, AIDS and
cancer continue to cause such mass misery, virtually unnoticed,
except by those directly affected.
Just take this litmus test: how many people do you know who have
been involved in an aeroplane crash, or even near miss? Now think
how many people you know who have been involved in road traffic
accidents. Come to think of it, how many people do you know that
have won the lottery? And that’s the thing. Your odds of
perishing in an aeroplane accident or nearer to the odds of winning
the lottery.
A similar thing could be said of crime. Murders are high up the
news agenda. Why? Because they are the exception and not the rule.
I think that most of us appreciate that we don’t live in
a society where murders are so common that the news media give
up reporting them (OK, so there may be some sad exceptions).
One very common problem, and another hidden killer, is food poisoning
or food infection. Now, back to the litmus test: how many times
have you had an upset tummy, brought about, so you suspect, by
eating infected food? Was it reported on the news? No, nor were
the other millions of cases around us. This may shock you, but
on average, 234 people die annually from aeroplane accidents in
the U.S. compared with 5,000 deaths from food poisoning. The chances
of us getting ill from some kind of food poisoning is 1 in 10
and this figure may be conservative because food poisoning is
often not reported.
But who, or what causes food poisoning? Well, there are many
reasons, such as poor personal hygiene or mixing cooked and raw
meats. And, of course a very common cause can be found flying
in the air. But these are not aeroplanes; these are disease carrying
house flies – a very common source of food poisoning.
Eliminating this risk requires some simple precautions such as
personal hygiene and sealing open food when not in use. Oh, and
what could be simpler and more obvious than buying a fly killer
machine? Have a look at the fly killers at www.eeeee.co.uk
I know that food infections, fly killer machines and the rest
will not make front page news, but I would be happy to walk down
any street at night or to ride in any aeroplane, than risk being
poisoned by fly infected food.
About The Author
Vernon Stent is a non-stop article and book writer and uses his
talents to promote products such as the Insectocutor web site
at http://www.eeeee.co.uk
sales@eeeee.co.uk
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