I Don't Need NO Hard Hat!!!

         The other day at work I was asked by a customer why I wore a hard hat, being that I work in a scrap yard I thought the answer obvious until he furthered the question by pointing out that I was the only "Manager" that wore a hat. So, I thought the better question was to ask why the other managers did not wear a hard hat in what is no doubt a dangerous place for your noggin. The answer I received is the topic of this blog.

" I don't need no hard hat. I have been working here 20 years and have never been hit in the head before, so I don't need a hard hat."

       So, do we only wear a helmet after we have been hit in the head with a piece of flying iron? Is not the point of a helmet to prevent ANY injuries, not to prevent ANOTHER injury. Let me put this type of logic into some other situations, and you see for yourself how much sense they make.

"I dont need to save for no emergencies. I have been on my own for 20 years and never had an emergency, so I don't need to save for one now."

"I don't need to eat right or exercise. I have been eating like this for 20 years and never had a heart attack, so I don't need to eat right or exercise now."

       Do you see what I mean? Why do we so often use our past to justify our behaviors towards the future? Sure, there are times to use past information to build towards a better tomorrow, but there are also a whole bunch of times that tomorrow would be better if we changed the habits and opinions that were formed in the past. 

       It seems that a lot of our major problems stem from this very type of thinking, and while it is not a cure-all by any stretch, it is a start. Just because our forefathers owned slaves and believed that colored men were less human than white men does not mean that that is how we should believe today. Just because our grandparents ate bacon and chicken-fried steak everyday and lived to be 90 does not mean it will work out that way for you. If we would take a little time to prepare for the future in the present we may find that our future hold far greater things than the status-quo that we so often live in.

Peace

Craig