Several times over the past week or so people have told me, “Have
a safe day!” Not a nice day, not a great day, not even a good day. I was told
to have a “safe” day. Now, living in AK, it’s one thing if it’s particularly icy
outside and someone says, “Be safe out there!” I get it. But, “Have a safe day”?
When did that become an acceptable salutation?
I realize these people were just trying to be friendly, but
I think it may be indicative of a larger issue: the exaggerated importance we place
on safety. Back when I was a kid (yes, I’m old enough to say that now), I used
to play with knives and matches, and I am pretty sure the sole reason my
parents had so many offspring is they figured not all of us would make it. Our
childhood was basically a process for weeding out the weak and unfit. Now kids
wear helmets at playgrounds and eat blended food because oatmeal is too much of
a choking hazard.
Just to be clear, I am not advocating recklessness at all. And
while I agree safety should be a key consideration of a process, it is not the process.
It can never be the objective. Safety is important, but it is a tactic, an aspect
of a greater mission. It is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Safety always has a cost. Sometimes it’s worth the cost,
sometimes it isn’t. But if safety ever becomes the objective – an end in and of
itself – you will lose the ability to effectively count the cost of safety.
What are you giving up to be “safe”?
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