I'm sure everyone's aware that those miners, with one exception, in W.Virginia didn't survive their ordeal. All I can do is offor my heartfelt condolences to the families. I hope that the one surviver, who was still in critical condition the last I heard, continues to recover.
We all take it for granted that we will have power at the flick of a switch, and that the fuel needed to generate that power will be there, but we forget that that fuel carries a price. Mining has always been, and IS, a dangerous profession. We need to remember those brave souls that toil within the bowels of the earth to help provide a better life for us all.
I've been in a coal mine ONCE, and it scared the hell out of me. I've been a cave rat since I was 11 years old, and I'm not claustrophobic, so it wasn't the dark or the close spaces that bothered me. It was the knowledge that it wasn't a natural space I was in, but one torn out by man and inherently unstable without constant vigilence and shoring. In other words, it's a space held open by the technology and will of man, and we know all too well the flaws of anything done by man.
Posted by Delftsman3 at January 4, 2006 07:29 PM | TrackBack