SAFETY FIRST
I have attended countless safety conferences through the years.  One that remains in my memory took place near the beach at the Florida/Alabama line.  This was one of those three day events that was intended to be a little perk as well as a fact finding mission.  The meetings were in one of those high rise buildings, and the clientele was primarily business types, not the construction guys with pickup trucks.

The lectures were good.  The displays were great.  It was a well thought out and put together series of meetings.  After several warm up speakers, we were introduced to the featured speaker.  His credentials were impeccable.  He worked as safety administrator for a large Alabama construction company.  He had many stories of horror about the carelessness of workers in the industry.  Stories of maim and death.  All of this made me realize that I had personally taken risks with my own well being over the years.  It made me want to go back to my company and fire personnel up to be more careful, not only for themselves, but for the ones who subcontracted or worked under them.

It was either day two or three, and I was driving to the meeting place in the morning.  As I cruised along I kept watch on the parking lot across from the building where the conference was being held for a parking space.  At that time an individual decided it was important to cross the street against the light in front of me.  Being as careful as I was, I quickly slowed to prevent an accident.  I thought of the things we had been learning and how that probably caused me to be more wary of the situation.  Then I looked to get a better view of the jaywalker.  And, yes, it was the featured speaker!

Don’t just preach it, practice it, too.

Talk to you later.

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