Driving Motorcycles example essay topic

Realization of Mortality Life is a gift that all of us have. Some follow a more conservatively safe lifestyle while others prefer to walk a little closer to the edge of mortality. This idea became clearly evident to me while I was standing in a hospital trauma room around five years ago. Growing up in a family where I was considered the daredevil was somewhat of an honor in view of the fact that I was second to the youngest.

I took up driving tractors and go-carts when I was only six or seven. If someone was to challenge one of my friends or me to try something, I would have great interest in going through with the activity not acknowledging the realistic danger. I could impress my older siblings with some risk taking activity that they probably would not attempt. The one activity that I really wanted to take up was driving motorcycles, a somewhat risky activity that is fun but can have brutal consequences.

Ironically, my father was an ER doctor that was trained in a level 1 trauma unit. He would bring home stories of drunk driving accidents, farm accidents, and most importantly to me, motorcycle accidents. He constantly tried to make me aware of the danger to which I might expose myself if I were to be careless or ignorant. Yet I was still drawn to motorcycles, rarely considering the fact that I could hurt myself.

This longing for a motorcycle thrill was about to drastically change. My dad called home on a 1995 Saturday afternoon wanting to talk to my sister and me. He told us to come up to the hospital to show us something important. On the way there I didnt know what to think. I remember talking to my sister in the car about us having no idea what to expect.

My sister thought that he had a fun an exciting suprise. Upon our arrival we found out different. His words were, Justin, Im concerned about your safety and the fact that you want to buy a motorcycle. I hope this will help you realize that motorcycles are fun until you wreck one. Come over here so I can show you why I dont have a motorcycle. In the next 10 seconds my life had changed before I even knew it.

This will scare you so I will only show you for a moment, my dad added in a very serious tone. He then raised the covering sheet on a 55 year old man that died that day in his first motorcycle accident. He only raised it for about 3 seconds but that was definitely long enough to quickly change my mind about buying that motorcycle in the fall. This mans legs were all but torn off. The complexion of his skin was lifeless, like a dried up fish out of the water. The smell of the whole room was overwhelmed by a nasty death smell.

His body looked like it was put in a blender and someone pushed frappe. I have yet to be that petrified and scared at the same time in my life. On the ride home from the hospital I had a chance to reflect on my thoughts concerning buying a motorcycle. I thought about the realism of death and how close it can come through different thrilling experiences whether your young or old. With that in mind, my drive to aquire a motorcycle was declining. Later I found out that this experienced motorcyclist was cruising down a road in Independence when a six-teen year old pulled out in front of him.

The motorcyclist hit the drivers side door at a harsh forty-five mph. With thirty years of motorcycle riding experience there was nothing the motorcyclist could do to elude this car. This information showed me that this man was not being careless or ignorant, but was still taking a chance. That chance he had been taking for thirty years had finally caught up to him. After this historic event in my life, I have found myself to be more conservative and a definite believer in automobile driving as opposed to motorcycle dying. 337.