 By Matt Cochran (Assisted by his lovely wife, Rachel)  |
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 Matt Says...Where to begin... First, the article that triggered my angry reaction. I actually wrote a letter to the editor, which they printed. The gist of the story is that a completely screwed up kid who happened to play Grand Theft Auto 3 murdered someone. Predictably, this behavior was blamed- not on his near-sexual fascination with blood, not his worship of Adolf Hitler, but on the fact that he played a violent video game. Video games' potential for blame for society's ills seems rather boundless. Granted, Mario Kart games are about as good wholesome fun as you can get while GTA3... isn't. Nevertheless, if you want to think the average Joe can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality, then blaming GTA3 makes about as much sense as blaming Mario Kart. The second "why" has to do with driving. Driving in Boulder, in particular. When we moved out here from Chicago, our insurance rates dropped by a HUGE percentage. I don't know how State Farm gets it's information, but I have never felt less safe in a car than I do in Boulder. It's incredible how often people will cross an intersection as much as five seconds after the light turns red. Occasionally, I'll push it a little when I'm turning left on a yellow light. In Boulder, however, almost every time I do that, about four cars follow me. Not to mention people's tendency to work to avoid letting one change lanes. And, of course, the parking lot of the hippy grocery store is a death trap. In short, a red turtle shell is the bare minimum of defensive weaponry I want when I drive here.  Rachel Says...Red turtle shells, hah! Nothing less than the Batmobile for me... Although reality would dictate the Batwing would actually prove more safe. ^_^ |
