Welcome, Ven a gozar!

It is not hard to imagine how story’s of Werewolves and other monsters started. It does not take much imagination at all if you think about the conditions people lived under in the dark or middle ages, which was the time of Feudalism in Europe. Everything outside whatever domain the person in charge could control was foreign territory. To leave your little patch of safety was very dangerous. Not that your little patch of safety was all that safe to start with. Think back now hundreds of years ago when you were alive….

Everyone wore the same clothes every day, and they were filthy rags for the most part. Everyone was hungry, uneducated, overworked, overtaxed, and had no education. Churches and the Landowners ruled the land. Churches told you what to think and landowners made sure you were too poor to be a threat to them.

At night there was no light except from a fire. The only time you could see far at night was when the moon was out. But if the moon was out for you, the moon was out for everyone else too. There were people about who were not normal, they were probably possessed by the way they acted, hearing voices, seeing things, and very anti social. There were no medications, no drugs to help them be normal. Deformed and crazy people were the norm, there was nothing to be done for them, except take care of them.

In your lifetime already you have seen or heard of people who have been found dead from leaving their hovels in the night. They had been attacked, horribly mutilated, maybe found with parts missing. There was also no way to solve a murder unless someone confessed or left such obvious evidence at the murder scene, but even murderers were not that stupid to leave obvious evidence. It must have been a Werewolf or some other monster that attacked them. That is the only explanation that makes sense. After all the idea of serial killers was unknown back then and these murders had to be explained somehow. Your mind can not comprehend anyone killing another person in your village.

Now you know the secret of the Werewolf. You hate your neighbor for some reason. You wait until the moon is full and you can see at night. You take your ax, shovel, or whatever you have for a weapon, and you wait where you know he or she goes to relieve themselves at night. When they show up to do their business, you are waiting. By the time you have calmed down enough to realize what you did, the victim is a mangled mess. You clean your weapon in the grass or dirt, wash the blood off your arms and face, and go back to bed, hoping no one noticed you were up and about.

In the morning, the body is found. It must have been a Werewolf, or monster that attacked because of the moon. A week later, the story is so accepted in your village, you are starting to believe it yourself. Maybe in your lifetime if the village is large enough and you are sick enough, three or four people have been found dead, and mutilated? No one would suspect you of such a terrible crime, so unless you do something stupid, your secret is safe.

There were no serial killers back then. People did not have a concept of a serial killer. There were Werewolves, Demons who controlled and took over people, and other assorted monsters, who were more than capable of such acts. If you dismiss them, there were witches, and warlocks, and wizards who everyone knew killed people and ate them. There are as we know, no shortage of stories of twisted things that roamed the earth at night capable of killing innocent people. But no one you knew back then could possibly do something that sickening to someone you knew…except maybe the castle torturer, or wild dogs or pigs, or….

If you need more convincing, watch the news the next time some sadistic murderer is arrested. Does he look normal, or does he look like a Werewolf? Maybe he lost his magic?

Comments (0) Feb 22 2008

I like the idea of managing my day to day risk. It is sort of like the insurance company does when they are deciding what my cost will be for my car insurance. It is also doing a little thinking about day to day life, and balancing those activities with more risk over a longer period of time. There is a large happy medium in our lives if we choose it. Sort of like Buddha and taking the middle road, it is not really that difficult and the returns are great.

I like driving as a good risk example because I live in a city, and driving is a part of my everyday life. I take two roads to work that are main trunk roads. They each have some serious accidents on them everyday. Because the traffic is moving rapidly, and there is a lot of it, I have to come to terms with possibilities that an accident I am involved in will probably be very serious.

At the rush hour times of day are the greatest risks of an accident. Early in the morning, there is always a possibility of a late night drunk heading home. During non rush hour periods are women and children in the car, or not, hurrying to get their shopping done before they have to meet their children and start their evening.

At night are usually the young drivers speeding around with their newfound power in their foot. This group of driver’s can rightly claim to have the fastest reflexes of any group out on the road, but they are also the least experienced, and most easily distracted group on the road. Of course their accident record and insurance rates reflect it. It appears by casual observation that they lead all age groups in rear end accidents, if you can call such accidents, accidents. Normally, they appear to be collisions caused by lack of attention.

When I venture out on these busy roads I have to be aware of the hazards of that time of day. The most serious accidents are at rush hour, the rest of the day except for about seven to ten at night is about the same risk, with that isolated period where I am most likely to have a collision with a teen age driver. So the wise thing to do would be off these roads during rush hour and middle evenings. To do otherwise is to increase my personal risk of being in an accident.

This same thought process applies to everything around me. Certain foods are better choices, some neighborhoods are safer, the amount of sleep I get makes a difference. In a high level view of our lives, we control very little of what happens around us. How we think about what we do, we can make a big difference in keeping ourselves safe.

Thinking about 9/11 is another good risk thinking exercise. You can name a number of large cities where you might live where 9/11 could have happened. You can also make a list of buildings most likely to be effected in each of these cities. Once you have that list, you can better manage your risk of being hurt even if you live in a large city with many possible targets. Better yet is not living in a large city, and choosing small town life instead. The problem with a small town is it has risks of its own, unless you know you would enjoy small town life.

It is good to make a little list of activities once in a while, broken out by time and risk. Too many risky activities means we are going to get hurt sooner instead of later, but too little risk does not always mean safety either, as accidents happen everywhere. Taking a known risk you can afford on every level may be a good risk. Speeding down the street and running a red light at rush hour, is a foolish risk. Knowing the difference keeps life exciting. Knowing the risks you take in general, and knowing whether or not you will survive if you lose, both physically and emotionally, makes life a lot more enjoyable.

Comments (0) Feb 22 2008