Risky

Risky
1. I think the closest thing to a revenge effect, as described by Tenner, in my life was when my parents purchased a primitive gaming system for me. This was back around the dawn of the Nintendo era. I was in a toy store and I saw this gaming system that plugged into the VCR. I don’t remember the name of he system but it came with 2 guns and some videos, which you were supposed to play while using the system. It had a counter and some other hardware, which let the “VHS games”, interact with the guns. It was very lame. However, at the time I was in the store I didn’t know all this. All I knew was that it had some guns and it was marked down half price and the pictures looked sweet. I whined to my parents until they bought it for me, but they made me agree that I wouldn’t be getting another gaming system for a while. Unfortunately, I never got any real satisfaction from that piece of crap and played it for about a week. It got its revenge by being a piece of shit. Also, because I had been so intent on getting it and because I compromised, my parents were reluctant to get me a SEGA Genesis when it came out. I had wanted that crap system so bad at the time and then it cost me my SEGA Genesis. I think I sold it the system a year later at a yard sale.
2. After graduation I want to travel. I want to go to Europe and Hawaii and maybe Vegas sometime next year. This is a lot of traveling but I figure I will be working for the next 40 years of my life, so I might as well enjoy my post graduation sunset. While the decision to travel seems to be a small one, I do not think it is, especially after Giddens’ statements about complexity and risk. If I travel the world now a number of things could happen, many of which are out of my control. First, one of my planes could crash. No one controls the weather and I won’t know the pilot first hand. Also, since 9/11 I think there is greater threat involved with flying. Interacting world activities, could affect my travel in a number of ways. What if Turkey decides to go to war with Greece, while I am visiting the coliseum? That would be terrible. Another angle is what if traveling is the wrong direction for me right now. No one can control macro economic influences. Maybe now is the time to work and in five years from now I will regret having traveled. With that being said, I think everyone should consider the “precautionary principle” at least a little bit in every decision. There are no definites in the world and as Giddens points out it is hard to predict the odds of any risk taking action. However, I don’t think you should live in a hole your whole life either. I think you have to do the best with information you are given and trust your heart. While Giddens warns of hazards we create, I am reminded that tomorrow is never guaranteed and that should be a factor in any decision.

1. I think the closest thing to a revenge effect, as described by Tenner, in my life was when my parents purchased a primitive gaming system for me. This was back around the dawn of the Nintendo era. I was in a toy store and I saw this gaming system that plugged into the VCR. I don’t remember the name of he system but it came with 2 guns and some videos, which you were supposed to play while using the system. It had a counter and some other hardware, which let the “VHS games”, interact with the guns. It was very lame. However, at the time I was in the store I didn’t know all this. All I knew was that it had some guns and it was marked down half price and the pictures looked sweet. I whined to my parents until they bought it for me, but they made me agree that I wouldn’t be getting another gaming system for a while. Unfortunately, I never got any real satisfaction from that piece of crap and played it for about a week. It got its revenge by being a piece of shit. Also, because I had been so intent on getting it and because I compromised, my parents were reluctant to get me a SEGA Genesis when it came out. I had wanted that crap system so bad at the time and then it cost me my SEGA Genesis. I think I sold it the system a year later at a yard sale.

2. After graduation I want to travel. I want to go to Europe and Hawaii and maybe Vegas sometime next year. This is a lot of traveling but I figure I will be working for the next 40 years of my life, so I might as well enjoy my post graduation sunset. While the decision to travel seems to be a small one, I do not think it is, especially after Giddens’ statements about complexity and risk. If I travel the world now a number of things could happen, many of which are out of my control. First, one of my planes could crash. No one controls the weather and I won’t know the pilot first hand. Also, since 9/11 I think there is greater threat involved with flying. Interacting world activities, could affect my travel in a number of ways. What if Turkey decides to go to war with Greece, while I am visiting the coliseum? That would be terrible. Another angle is what if traveling is the wrong direction for me right now. No one can control macro economic influences. Maybe now is the time to work and in five years from now I will regret having traveled. With that being said, I think everyone should consider the “precautionary principle” at least a little bit in every decision. There are no definites in the world and as Giddens points out it is hard to predict the odds of any risk taking action. However, I don’t think you should live in a hole your whole life either. I think you have to do the best with information you are given and trust your heart. While Giddens warns of hazards we create, I am reminded that tomorrow is never guaranteed and that should be a factor in any decision.

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