Brett Kettle wrote:
What matters is that the things we say in public influence a) those outside
of the sport with enough interest to start asking questions, and b) those
keen newcomers within the sport who may not yet have the safe v gung-ho
balance worked out. We don't see speeding in car ads because its judged to
adversely affect driver attitudes; yet adverts or offbeat comments implying
we have an irreverence for safety in gliding are treated as humorous?
Yes. We're all adults. We're all (I hope) reasonably intelligent
folks. We can all tell the difference between seriousness and crap,
we all take responsibility for our own safety, and we haven't been
infected by the same intellectual disorder which has affected, say,
TV stations, who have allowed themselves to fall under the belief
that car chases on cop shows are ok but advertisements showing fast
cars are bad because they encourage speeding...
... even though it's ok to show those same cars running down Conrod
Straight at 250km/h if they have enough advertising stickers plastered
onto them. It's plainly ok for a TV station to show a car going at
enormous speed when driven by someone appropriately qualified, so why
isn't it ok for a gliding magazine to show a glider doing a competition
finish when it's piloted by someone appropriately qualified?
I wouldn't deny anyone the right to crack jokes about duct taped pins when
they are standing around as a bunch of old farts shooting the breeze, or
even to fly themselves in a duct-taped glider. But in a public forum? I
thinks its akin to telling stories to novices XC'ers about the day we got
away from 150' in a dust devil, and is a disservice to the sport as a whole,
IMHO.
Do you think this is a public forum? Any more public than, say, the
bar in your local gliding club clubhouse?
I don't think it is. I'm pretty sure I could count the number of
"uninitiated" members of the general public who are subscribed to
this list on the fingers of, well, zero hands.
- mark
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: +61-8-82231777 -----
_______________________________________________
Aus-soaring mailing list
[email protected]
To check or change subscription details, visit:
http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
