If you have not heard, this weekend, during an Indy Car race in Las Vegas, there was a major accident that involved 15 of the cars. Dan Wheldon, a well known driver, was killed in this accident. Of course youtube is thriving with videos of the accident – macabre to be sure. The accident is tremendously violent and shows you just how fragile these cars really are. Think about nature for a moment. A rhino is a strong creature with lots of armor. He can’t scale a fence. He can’t walk a tight rope. Anything agility oriented is basically completely beyond him. That said he can take and deliver one hell of a hit. Now consider a cat. For his size he is incredibly fast. A cat’s agility borders on the mystical. They can dodge things that most creatures wouldn’t even notice. They catch mice for pete’s sake – a creature that is blindingly quick. Sneeze on a cat wrong and they die. Why? In a way cats traded durability for speed and agility – that is the price for those skills. The rhino preferred durability and strength.

What the hell does this have to do with an Indy Car? Indy cars are cats. They are incredibly fast, agile, and reportedly (I still find this tough to believe btw), if handled correctly, can actually ride upside on the ceiling due to the amount of downward force they exude. They are incredible feats of technological design, and they are just as equally fragile. In effect, if you touch an Indy car wrong, in breaks. If you hit one even slightly it blows apart. That is the price to be the way they are. That is the weird thing about this life – we all pay little prices to do things.

A football player knows that in any play he could be permanently injured for life – paralyzed, even killed. He knew that when he signed up. He gets paid for that danger. A Boxer knows that during any round, receiving any hit, can result in permanent damage, or death. It is what he signed up for. It is actually part of the documentation process – accepting the danger. This happens in many aspects of life. It is not tragic – it is just part of doing the job. Consider coal miners – black lung is something they can get. Deep well drillers – things explode on rigs all the time. It is the nature of the work.

Dan Wheldon died this weekend because of an accident that occurred doing what he loved to do, and made a good living doing it. He knew the cost of that ride. Drivers are taught that. It is not only part of their training, but their lore. They learn about others who have fallen doing what they love. Mr. Wheldon died doing what he loved. Think about that. How often does that actually happen? Yes he died, and that can be perceived as tragic as a life was lost, a man who was loved by many is gone forever. However, he died doing what he felt was his reason for living.

The news, media, and people everywhere are talking about how tragic it was that Dan Wheldon died. I don’t see it that way. A man sitting on a park bench with his children, all three of them being killed by a drunk driver flying off course into a park – that is tragic. They did nothing to be killed in that fashion. They didn’t sign up to be killed by a drunk driver. They weren’t being Professional Bench Sitters where being killed by a drunk driver is a common danger. No, they were just sitting in a park enjoying the weather and each other. Dan Wheldon was in a professional Indy Car race, and he died in that race. Do I wish that on anyone? No. Do I find it sad? Yes. Is it really a surprising tragedy? Not even close.