Sunday Rumination on the Week’s News

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | August 23, 2015

No. 1,204

Image: gaping void.com

Complete this thought: “Life is short… . .”

Ashley Madison has it half right. Life really is short and it gets shorter all the time. We know it, but we don’t really believe it, at least most of the time. It’s contrary to our nature.

But if you really did believe it, with your dwindling time on this planet, would you do something totally selfish or would you do something else?

Early in the last century, when coal-fired locomotives and coal furnaces were still in use, a father and his children were walking the tracks somewhere east of Pittsburgh, picking up fuel that had been dropped along the way. So absorbed were they in their task, that one of the children failed to observe an oncoming train. With only seconds to spare, the father leaped into the path of the train and pushed his child to safety.

Of course, no one will never know whether he or she could do something like that until the choice is presented.

And yet, heroism is not as rare as we might think. The American marines who rushed an armed terrorist on a train were only the latest in a long list of people in the wrong place at the wrong time and chose to spend what might have been the last seconds of their relatively young lives saving the lives of strangers.

Yes, in nearly every terror attack where the opportunity to save others was present, somebody took it and most of them died.

The fact that life can end in a heartbeat makes it more precious than anything we can ever own. So what do you plan to do with the balance of your most precious asset? Have an affair?

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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