>
>The bottom line is that frivolous dismissing someone else's risks,
>occupational or otherwise, strikes me as cheap flippancy aiming to impress
>fellow hoodlums rather than a bona fide argument in a rational discussion.
>
>Wojtek
You're funny.
What's being dismissed here is not risk, but the exaggeration of risk in support of a larger agenda.
If you won't take it from me, how about the cop in Texas who wrote this?
>Is a cop job dangerous? Well, yes, and no. It's not dangerous the
>way some people think. Cops aren't even in the
><http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/16/pf/2005_most_dangerous_jobs/index.htm>top
>ten most dangerous jobs by fatality. That said, cops and jailers do
>get assaulted more than average. We just don't die much on the job.
>On average, about 130 per year die, out of around 900k cops in the
>U.S. (I don't know the stats for jailers, but they get a different
>regard from the public, so that's another discussion.) What do cops
>usually die of? Nope. Not hails of gunfire. Usually it's accidents.
>Cops die driving to hot calls, they die while stopped with traffic
>violators, and they die while just driving around. Sometimes they
>die when they go into dangerous areas (like constructions sites,
>accident scenes, or weather emergencies). Less than half of the
>officers that die in a given year in the U.S. die to intentional
>acts of violence. (MADD considers DWI to be a violent crime, FWIW.)
>So we're talking about maybe 60 cops (out of 900k) that die from
>violence each year. Not a huge percentage of death from that. You're
>a lot more likely to die on the job if you're a farmer, lumberjack,
>or commercial fisherman, and death, my friend, is death, be it from
>a bad guy's bullet or from being swept off the deck of a trawler.
>
>But every year, especially around Christmas time, a local officer
>will die on the job, and his story gets blasted at us through the
>news media. Radio, paper, and television stories show the officer's
>face. The officer's mates are shown in full uniform, carrying his
>casket before ranks of other officers. Candlelight vigils are
>depicted. Accounts are set up for donation. This year's local martyr
>has led the local news for at least three days. He was doing his
>duty, and was helping a stranded motorist when a drunk driver
>slammed into his car, killing him. It's terrible, and I personally
>plan to put a donation in the widow's account.
>
>But the fatality just as easily could have been the wrecker driver
>whom they were waiting for. NO ONE calls wrecker drivers "the unsung
>heros," even though they're commercial drivers, and are on that Top
>Ten Most Dangerous Jobs list. True, it's easier to become a wrecker
>driver. But then, there's lots of men and women waiting in line to
>become cops. Seriously. Even at my small town, there's quite a list
>of applicants.
>
>I'm not a hero. My buddy who relieves me is not a hero. The guy I
>relieved is not a hero. We're just guys-- most of us good guys-- who
>are doing a job. Most of us like our job. Most of us will do the
>right thing when the balloon goes up, and I think most of us will
>step into harm's way if and when the need arises. Maybe --if and
>when-- there will then be opportunities to recognize individual acts
>of heroism. But granting us ALL a pass as Heroes demeans the concept
>of what a hero is.
http://maypeacebewithyou.blogspot.com/2006/12/hero-concept-of-being-outstanding-is_20.html