I am a reformed juvenile delinquent. There, I said it.
Each week KyForward’s “resident riskologist” Keven Moore shines the light on America’s riskiest behaviors – from unsafe driving practices to workplace stress to common home accidents. And in the process, he provides the information needed to help people play it a little safer.
But as any good juvenile delinquent will tell you, my unruly behavior (in this case, throwing snowballs at passing vehicles) wasn’t my fault. After all we were out of school and home alone after 30 straight snow days during the Great Blizzard of 1978. Seriously, how could we be held responsible with all that snow lying around in the neighborhood with absolutely nothing to do to consume our time while our parents were away at work.
Besides, we had nothing better to do – no cable TV, cell phones, XBoxes, PCs, social media. So we found ourselves on the corner of the street between two houses as we waited for our unsuspecting prey.
It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that I realized the consequences of such actions – when one mountain of a man became enraged and chased us on foot. And, because of the ice next to the gutter drain between those two houses, I first learned how dangerous a slip, trip and fall hazard is. You get the picture.
As the enraged man circled the house, making threats to cut off certain reproductive organs as he searched for us, I made a pledge to the Big Cat in the sky that I would right my wrongs and confess my sins in church if I was spared.
I was true to my pledge and repented in church the following Sunday, but how was I to know that we would still have another two weeks of snow days? Seriously that couldn’t be my fault!
I was quickly tempted to once again rejoin my neighborhood brothers, but this time we found ourselves several streets over in an apartment complex on a hill, tossing snowballs down on to passing cars in a local mall parking lot. I learned quickly that when you venture too far off your familiar comforts of your own reservation, that you expose yourself to unknown and unforeseeable hazards – like getting caught.
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Keven Moore works in risk management services. He has a bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky, a master’s from Eastern Kentucky University and 25-plus years of experience in the safety and insurance profession. He lives in Lexington with his family and works out of both his firm’s Lexington and Northern Kentucky offices. Keven can be reached at kmoore@roeding.com.