Who Cut The Cheese?

We've all been there. We do something that at the time seems like a, well maybe not a good idea, but at least not a bad one, and something untoward happens. I remember when I was a little kid my parents telling me not to put anything into the electrical outlet (except a plug). There was no reason why, just don't do it. Of course, being a little kid, I had time on my hands and a fork. Lesson learned. Many of life's lessons are like this. We try something and we learn something from the result of our actions. Most of the time it is the fear of the results that keeps us from doing that particular thing again. Touching the hot stove, learning that your bike only defies gravity for so long before you crash into the side of the ditch, touching your tongue to the frosty metal swing set, holding that firecracker just a little too long.

You would think that a little pain, or even seeing a little pain in others, would be enough to dissuade us from attempting something questionable or dangerous. Apparently not. In England there is an annual event where a cheese wheel is rolled down a steep hill and people chase after it. (Don't judge, just accept it and move on.) Now, before you dismiss this event, lets just say that this hill would be one you would be hard pressed to walk up, let alone run down while trying to catch a cheese. Apparently the cheese can hit speeds of 65 kilometres an hour! Injuries are an annual occurrence. Sprained ankles, broken wrists, broken arms & legs, cuts, bruises, and concussions all occur on a regular basis. Take a minute and look it up online. Better yet search out a video and have a look. Now you know what I'm talking about.

This event has taken place annually for the better part of 200 years! Now it has, sadly, been cancelled. Not because the cheese has never, in 200 years, been caught. Not because people got tired of waking up in hospital or got scared off by the sight of people pin wheeling down a hill after a cheese, or because there was a lack of interest. Nope. The cause of the cancellation was too much interest. Last year 15,000 people showed up to watch or take part. Apparently they ran out of room and spectators were starting to get hurt. Not surprising. Can you imagine showing up to watch and getting hit by a speeding cheese wheel? In this case it wasn't people taking part in the event learning from the painful results of their actions that caused the end of the race. It was other, smarter people, protecting participants from themselves that put the brakes on things. I guess someone decided that common sense was not so common and decided to cut the cheese.