ddhr.org - Easy to die

Date: 2008 | 02 | 01

Easy to die (3)

Feb 1, 2008

Sometimes it frightens me how easy it is to die. I'm not talking about death by dangerous things like skydiving or mountain climbing, or even death by somewhat normal things like car accidents or wildlife encounters while camping. I'm talking about everyday things like eating a meal or plugging in an electrical cord. If a piece of food gets lodged in my throat when I'm eating alone, there's a pretty good chance I could die. If my finger touches one of the metal prongs of an electrical cord as I'm plugging it in, I could easily die. I never think twice about flying in a plane or walking near the edge of a rocky cliff, but doing certain simple everyday things makes me nervous. #psychology

Comments

Rus

Feb 1, 2008

The choking one is a bit scary. Even scarier is having young kids who think it's fun to take bites of food the size of their head.

The metal prong thing usually won't fry you. Don't try this at home, but when Bob Peck and I (mostly Bob) were installing some outlets for our deck in Hopatcong, I accidentally "completed the circuit." Wasn't fun, but I'm living to type about it.

Dave

Feb 4, 2008

I'm scared of electricity because (a) I can't see it and (b) I don't understand it. Sometimes you die when you get zapped. Other times you don't. If there was some sort of pattern, maybe I would feel more comfortable touching the metal prongs as I plug things in.

Rich

Feb 5, 2008

Dave, touch one prong all you want - you won't complete the circuit. With 120VAC, unless you're pretty creative or unlucky, you aren't likely to injure or kill yourself. People's reaction to getting shocked tends to cause more injury. Get shocked up on a ladder, and instinctively leap backward, and I think you will find that the fall hurts a lot more than the shock. If you are very unlucky, the fall will only hurt for a moment... It's only slightly easier to kill yourself from electrocution with 120VAC than it is to do so with an ohmmeter (barring toaster ovens, tubs of water, and no GFI), and even that takes unusual circumstances.
(the ohmmeter thing is a bit of an urban legend, but I've heard enough people with doctorates in electrical engineering and in physics agree that it is quite possible that I'm inclined to believe it.)