Second-Hand Parachutes

The conflict between freedom and benign governmental protectionism on occasion meet in strange ways.

In 1998 a group of base jumpers (people who parachute from tall building, bridges and other tall stationary objects) were protesting a National Parks Service prohibition which proscribed parachuting from El Capitan, a particularly tall rock in Yosemite National Park.

Aware that violators would have their parachutes confiscated, one particularly resourceful jumper, a lady named Jan Davis, borrowed a used, second-hand parachute so that her new state of the art canopy would not be taken. Jumping in violation of the prohibition, the borrowed chute failed to deploy and Ms. Davis was killed, but her pricey new parachute was spared being confiscated.

After years of campaigning and lobbying, Florida's motorcyclists were able to secure a repeal of a mandatory helmet law, which now only mandates helmet wearing for those under 21 years of age or persons with less than $10,000 in medical insurance. The rest are free to ride with the wind in their hair and concuss themselves to their hearts content.

On the other hand there are limits. On one occasion a potential suicide in Key West was threatening to blow his brains out and was holding a pistol to his head. A police S.W.A.T. team was summoned and after unsuccessfully trying to talk the man to a more reasonable position, shot him dead. After all there are some aspects of self-destructive behavior that government simply cannot condone or tolerate. Life is a cabaret old chum!

Randy Ludacer
Lake Placid