Slight Chance Of ...

When I was at WICC in Bridgeport CT, many years ago, we tagged every summer weather forecast with, "Slight chance of widely scattered thunderstorms." The station covered a large area and we figured, hey, somewhere there might be one and, if there wasn't, all we said was "slight chance" and "widely scattered," so if one area didn't get one, by golly, another area might have. We were probably right somewhere, at some time.

People do things, on a basis ranging from "not so bad" to "what were you thinking of" based on the perceived slight chance of something happening:

>Running a stop sign/light late at night with no cars or cops in view.
>Riding your Harley without a helmet.
>Using professional fireworks without experience.
>Driving while buzzed.

I can only guess that people are thinking, "There's only a slight chance that something will happen to me." I know that, so far, most things have happened to someone else; I also know that, for everyone in the world, I am someone else. It, whatever “it” is, can happen to me.

A slight chance is still a chance; a possibility can quickly become a probability. We can say that much of what happens in life is a roll of the dice, but we do have some control as to how the dice lands. If we take precautions, the dice land easier. As do we.