BY TIM MIDDLETON
FOR years, mainly courtesy of the Stella Awards, there has been circulating a popular story of a man who purchased a brand-new motorhome. On his first trip home, having joined the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go into the back to make a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the vehicle left the freeway, crashed and overturned. The man then sued the motorhome company for not advising him in the handbook that he could not actually do this.
He was awarded $1,750,000 plus a new motorhome, while it is claimed that the motorhome company changed the manual to warn its clients not to leave the driving seat while driving! The story may be apocryphal but such is the world’s political correctness, we can well believe such a ridiculous story.
Of course, we are familiar with other warnings, many as bizarre as the one beside the swimming pool which stated: “Slippery when wet”. Every day as we drive, there are warning signs on the side of the road cautioning us of such things such as a traffic signal ahead, a sharp curve, merging traffic, a school zone and many other alternatives.
Here in Zimbabwe we have others, like the one that advises drivers of “Farm Implements Crossing” and one that warns of a “Deadly Hazard Ahead” even if the latter hazard is none other than a bend in the road. The warning of elephants’ crossing should be taken seriously though but if we warned drivers of potholes, the whole of the roadside would be covered with such warning signs. Equally there should be a warning about other drivers, as many drivers would qualify for an old car sticker which stated: “Designed by a computer, built by a robot, driven by a moron”. The way some people drive is dangerous.
For many years now, cigarette packets have been required to have warning signs on the side of them stating that smoking can be bad for our health as well as the health of others, that it can cause serious illness, indeed that it can kill. They also warn, as if it is not obvious like the motorhome manual, that smoking can be addictive, which in itself is a real danger.
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So, we are reminded again and again that speeding is dangerous and smoking is dangerous but equally there is another area where there should be a warning: winning. Winning can be dangerous for us and for others, as it can so easily make us think that we can do what we want, when we want, how we want, like the motorhome driver who got out of his seat, like the drivers around us who think the road is theirs and theirs alone, like the smoker who affects others by his actions. Winning can be dangerous to children because they may be going too fast, too soon, with too much, with not enough maturity or experience to handle all that comes with it. We risk all by making winning big.
There should be a warning about winning as it can also have a bad effect on us and on children especially. Winning all too often gives a false impression of who we really are and makes youngsters think that their value is dependent on them winning, that they are a nobody if they do not win. They inhale the smoke of celebratory flares that hides the stark truth that it is just a game.
Furthermore, there should be a warning about winning as it can all too easily become equally addictive. Competitiveness can very quickly turn into an obsession and addiction; it becomes a drug with which we do not always see or think clearly or rationally, while on a high. Winning more and more makes us want to win more and more and need to win more and more; we then have to win all the time, at all costs and in all situations, on and off the sports field, just as drivers on the road feel they have to reach their destination as quickly as possible and with no consideration to others.
Winning can seriously affect the way we think of life and people. We are not saying however that we should be politically correct and have no winners and losers or that everyone is a winner; no, there are winners and losers, no question. There are good drivers and bad drivers so we need to ensure we have good winners who are fully aware of the dangers (to themselves and others) of winning so that they can all act responsibly.
Winners are driven, sure, but they need to drive well – and not be morons. We need to make children good winners, aware of dangers. Maybe therefore we do need, like the motorhome makers with their manual, to put a warning into every match day programme. There certainly will be trouble ahead if we do not; sport can be slippery even when it is not wet.