Black Lung and Stinkin' Badges

There's been much in the news, lately, about miners, which leaves me completely unqualified to have even as much as an opinion. I've never wanted to be a coal miner, have never known anyone who's been one (or even considered it), but that may be because of my lack of curiosity or record keeping.

But I'm pretty sure of one thing: those miners make a damn good living at it, at least until they die. They have a strong union, which helps, but more than that they're doing work that's dangerous and that no one in their right mind would do unless you shoveled money on them like it was going out of style.

It's not the most dangerous profession (I think that goes to farmers and fishermen), but I'm guessing most who end up doing it do so more as a last resort than from any love. There are all kinds of political groups and politicians, now, who are demanding mine safety, and while I don't like to see anyone hurt or killed, this could be a huge mistake. If mining gets to be a safe job, like Homer Simpson's at his nuclear plant where he eats donuts and pushes buttons, I have a bad feeling it wouldn't pay as well.

So what we'd be doing is saving lives, but cutting miner's salaries in half.

Because, let's face it, the only reason cops get paid as well as they do is because they infrequently get shot. If police were never killed performing their jobs, that wouldn't be a very exciting job, either. I mean, I've never talked to anyone who wanted to be a cop so they could direct traffic or do paperwork.

It's horrible that people die deep underground or at the end of a crook's gun, but without that happening, the jobs wouldn't be as financially rewarding and wouldn't attract so many applicants. When I consider the hundred people or so who kill themselves every day, I wonder why we get more worked up over much lesser numbers.