Generally, I don’t worry about my freedom and liberties. I trust and love my country. But there are times reality forces me to pay attention. Right now I’m really bugged about seat belts. I did get a no seat belt ticket a month ago and I started thinking.
Here’s my question, why is it ok for me scream down the highway on a Ninja at 120 miles an hour wearing Daisy Dukes, a tank top and flip flops, with my head bumping like a coconut bobble-head, naked and unprotected? If I got hit by a truck while riding my Ninja without a helmet my skull would split like a watermelon on the curb. This scenario is just fine with law enforcement.
But, if I’m driving 25 miles an hour and I’m completely engulfed and cocooned by my 5,000 pound Hummer with cushy leather seats and four different air bags, I better have my seat belt on or I’ll get pulled over and written up. This just doesn’t make sense.
Unless….our society doesn’t really like motorcycle riders and wants to eliminate them completely. No, that can’t be it, I’m just making stuff up now.
The truth is, if I choose not to wear my seat belt or helmet I’m not endangering anyone but myself. If I’m willing to have my head cracked like a honey dew melon, that’s my own stupid decision.
I understand laws that protect other people from my idiocy. I should not be allowed to drive around with my kids in the trunk or in the bed of my truck because they might get hurt. I should not be allowed to drive with my feet on the steering wheel or while smoking crack, both might cause me to kill someone else. So those laws make perfect sense. But when I decide to drive without my seat belt, I’m only endangering my self and as an American, my right to act like a moron and make super stupid decisions, is protected.
We must cherish and protect our freedom, even from those who mean well and want to keep us from harm.
PS I want you to believe I’m a middle-aged white woman in Arkansas who rides a Ninja in my Daisy Dukes and has a massive, gas sucking, Hummer. Yeah…that’s me! It’s possible and that’s why I love this country.