Taking risks

I read the other day that my friend is starting a company. That is great; she ought to be really good at it and I hope she succeeds. I hope her business partner fails miserably. Is that possible?

The partner is a 26-year-old guy, and maybe that is explanation enough. All 26-year-olds are a bit cocky. But as I read about him in my friend's post about the company and in his own blog, my disapproval grew.

He dislikes "safe jobs," you know, those that pay the bills. Like mine? He would rather take risks.

Wonderful, except I decided he is the kind of person who decided to risk it and not get insurance, which is great until he gets sick and can't pay and society directly or indirectly pays the costs. I also decided he is the type who bought houses he could not afford using interest-only mortgages and who society is now bailing out. And he totally is the type who goes hiking unprepared, gets lost and has to get rescuers to save him ... rescuers who are often paid for by society.

I, of course, have no way of knowing if these are true.

I know I am just jealous.

At no point in my life since college have I not thought about ramifications ... in most issues. I know I was not thinking smart in grad school when I took part in a little writing enterprise that imagined mean things happening to classmates.

I am not averse to risk. I am all about risk every darn day.

If I don't think every little thing through, I wind up on my ass. Heck, even if I do think things through, I fall.

I recently told Mom that the reason I tumble when I transfer is that I don't take that much time and plan it out because 90 times out of 100 my strength or athleticism (that's right) or luck will keep me from falling. It is just those 10 times I fall and make a stink about it.

I am about measured risk, I guess. Failure at risks I take would not affect society, except it would have to survive without my pithy commentaries. No, my risks would just hurt me, well, and family and friends.

But I have changed my mind. I don't want him to fail ... because that is too mean and because then he would take a bigger risk to succeed and his failure, while spectacular, would just drain society more.

And if someone will take me bungee-jumping, holler. I really want to do that kind of falling.