Yes,
Richard Grasso. No not Dick Grasso. Rich Grasso, a good friend and uncle died Thursday. Since then I have been struggling to find meaning in what I do.
My Uncle, well, my uncle-in-law, was one heck of a guy who lived life to the fullest. He had so many friends. I remember meeting "The Family" when I was dating my wife and how scared I was......Richard said, don't sweat it, we don't bite......except for Nanny.
He always had a way of making me feel warm and loved. He gave the best hugs and always gave great advice. Unfortunately, he died because he forgot to do one simple thing. He forgot to wear his seat belt. He was thrown from his car and that's what killed him.
It seems to me, after this swine flu thing and now with my uncle.....all of this overbloated hype about genomes saving the world.......is a little too much.
If you look at the fatalities data in 2008 it is crystal clear that the people getting their genomes scanned should pay more attention to whether they are driving safely and buckling up rather than spitting up. Sure we are reducing the rate, but how many really have to die?
Not to say that genomes aren't worthy of study. They are. But Today I want to make sure that each and every reader of this blog, buckles up when they drive. That they forget about using the cell phone in the care. That they decide not to cut off that other driver.........or just stop rushing to beat the light.....
If we all just did that for one day, we could save more lives than any amount of genome scans could......
The Sherpa Says: God Rest Richard Grasso, please learn from his mistake. Drive safely, drive as if getting there late mattered less than getting there alive.......
2 comments:
Sorry to hear about the loss.
I always wear a seatbelt and always try to avoid tailgaiting.
Genomes are important but not as important as the simple things that we can control, like washing the hands, wearing a seat belt, driving slower in snow conditions, etc.
If you ask me, the doctors that are the Doctors TV show do a heck of a lot more for society than those silicon chip assayists from 23andMe will ever do for society.
I'm afraid that it's human nature that will kill us all. Hundreds of thousands of years of hard wired habits, proclivities, and adaptive responses are hard to change.
I regret your family's loss.
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