Mess With The Bull, You Sometimes Get The Horns

Pamplona bull-running festival starts

Yahoo! News: "PAMPLONA, Spain - Thousands of revelers sprayed each other with sparkling wine and the mayor of this northeastern city launched a skyrocket at noon Friday to start Spain's most famous festival, the San Fermin running of the bulls."

"Men and women of Pamplona, viva San Fermin!" Mayor Yolanda Barcina shouted from the city hall balcony. Crowds packed the town hall square, most dressed in the traditional garb of white shirts and trousers, and red handkerchiefs.

Residents threw water on the revelers from balconies to cool them off.

The launch of the skyrocket, known as the "chupinazo," began the nine-day fiesta that was popularized internationally by Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises" and centers around the daily running of the bulls.

I call this the Revenge of the bulls.

I said this last year after a man from this country went to this yearly festival and ended up getting, (big surprise here), gored by a bull!! Can you imagine that? Then his family and friends all went total feel-good with the "help us help him" websites and the news reports, telethons, money drives, the whole shabang, asking average Americans to help get their friend and family member back home to receive badly needed emergency health care on our nickels and dimes.

Please don't misread me as I am all for raising money and helping most all people in their times of dire need, but people who jump in front of bulls while on vacation in Spain taking time off from their high paying Wall Street jobs as this gentleman was, don't really qualify I'm afraid.

This activity is quite similar to these extreme sporting folks that get caught in avalanches mountain climbing and acts that cause others have to then have to risk their lives to save these people from their own bravado behavior, not to mention costing tens upon tens of thousands of dollars to the local communities in order to do so.

The stories are all the same; They're all very experienced in the outdoors, experts in their chosen endeavors and all that right up until the unexpected but should be expected occurs, then they all become humans and can die just like the rest of us when we challenge death for weekend warrior thrills.

For the following week I was trampled upon by casual readers and the guy's family and friends from all over the country for "being so cold" towards someone who was "accidentally injured and paralyzed" as if he were the victim of a drunk driving accident or some incurable disease like I or millions of others instead of someone who foolishly risked their own life, once again, for a weekend of bravado and manliness like some comedic movie plot (Billy Crystal and his thrill seeking buddy in City Slickers comes to mind).

So this year I'm saying it beforehand and to no one single individual, and of coarse not wishing ill upon any person whatsoever should the sometimes inevitable tragedy befall them and their friends or families should they get in the way of a rampaging bull.

HOWEVER...

Should you decide to go to Pamplona and run with the bulls, and then find yourself near death or injured outside of the country in a hospital in Spain getting foreign er health care, then please don't look to us here for pity and to get you back here in one piece feeling all sorry for you because your BCBS health insurance doesn't have the "running with the bulls" rider that covers injuries from jumping in front of mad animals with horns like occurred to that gentleman last year.

Please stay home and watch it on the tv news if you cannot pay the subsequent bills for your stupidity. Otherwise have fun while being chased down the street and break a leg or neck while your at it!!

But first watch these and see what happens when you don't out run the bull....

The first video is the Vaquilla in which the man I've talked about was injured so badly. After watching it am I wrong to say "this is something that looks pretty damn dangerous to do just for the hell of it" All so you can brag to your friends, co workers and family members how tough you are on the weekends? Right up until god forbid you end up paralyzed for life from doing it?

Luckily he apparently fully recovered from his injuries but many who are paralyzed by true accidents and or illnesses aren't so fortunate and didn't do this to themselves by thrill seeking as he did. Like myself.

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