Danger at the pump Danger at the pump ADVERTISING “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Good advice. Why stop there? Why not, “Friends don’t let friends do ANYTHING stupid.” Then again, maybe it should simply be, “People shouldn’t let people
Danger at the pump
“Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Good advice.
Why stop there? Why not, “Friends don’t let friends do ANYTHING stupid.”
Then again, maybe it should simply be, “People shouldn’t let people do stupid things.”
I was in line to fill up gas at a gas station in Hilo, when I noticed the guy in front of me sticking something into the fuel handle to hold it open. When I realized what he was using, the hair stood up on the back of my head.
He’d wedged a disposable cigarette lighter into the handle to keep it open. Without thinking I poked my head out the window and said, “Would you please not use a cigarette lighter to do that.” I believe that in the firefighting profession what they would call what he used — after the explosion — was an “igniter.”
The guy decided to argue with me instead of pulling it out. Now, I’d just come back from a 10-day trip from the mainland where there the word “aloha” means an airline company that went out of business.
My reaction to this guy’s stupidity was instinctual. Once I started to actually think about it, what I really wanted to do was drive away from the potential blast zone. But there were other patrons there and employees, so I persisted, telling this guy, as nicely as possible, that what he was doing wasn’t smart.
Eventually, he drove away, shaking his head. “I do it all the time,” he yelled out as he left.
I think in some cases it’s important to tell people, even if we don’t know them, that they are not making wise decisions. Better open rebuke from a friend than kisses from the enemy.
How’s this saying: “The life you save may be your own.”
Anthony Vidana
Kailua-Kona
No compassion
Regarding the fall over the edge of Kilauea Caldera by a park visitor, I found park superintendent Cindy Orlando’s comment to be appalling. The press release quoted her as saying, “Once again, risky behavior by a visitor endangered the lives of our staff … thankfully, no one was injured.”
This comment is inappropriate, disrespectful, churlish, and shows no compassion towards the injured visitor. Risky behavior notwithstanding, the quote exhibits an uncaring and un-aloha attitude toward someone in need in the national park.
Orlando is, above all else, a public servant, which makes this comment especially impertinent. Makes one wonder if Orlando would feel the same way if it had been one of her own employees who got hurt.
Janice Robinson
Volcano
