November 25, 2009

Margin for Error

In American football, an offensive lineman flinches and the referee throws a flag for "illegal movement." The lineman's team is backed up 10 yards, or 10% of the entire field of play. What has the world come to when a human being cannot move a neck muscle two inches to the left or right without being admonished in front of 70,000 people -- and millions more watching the televised broadcast?

This is in stark contrast to many other common activities, where the margin for error is much greater. For example, males who stand when they urinate have a generous bowl to accommodate various angles and velocities of their streams. Tying shoelaces has built-in flexibility and ample opportunities to start all over again. I'm just looking for consistency with respect to what society tolerates and what it does not. I thought I'd raise this with you since you're taking a good hard look at the entire spectrum of humanity.

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