Making up my own folk sayings now (Mayor's Cup inspired, no less)

Words you probably don't want to live by:

"Those who can see both sides of the road are the most likely to get hit by a bus".

Inspired by:

A) a work-frazzled brain
B) a vaguely remembered conversation with somebody about something that some older relative of theirs used to say to them that was along the same lines but made even less sense than mine
C) an NYCKayaker discussion of PFD's lifejackets brought on by an earlier discussion of the unfortunate calling-off of the Mayor's Cup after big problems during the surfski launch (awesome writeup by Joe Glickman & pix by assorted folks on surfski.info). An eyewitness report included the detail that some of the racers weren't wearing PFD's. Discussion ensued over whether that was a mistake on the organizer's part. Now me being notably conservative (in my boating if not my politics) you'd think I'd be on the "wear 'em" side of the argument, but this is one I actually can see both sides of the road on.

Do I think people should wear lifejackets when they venture out on New York's waterways?

Yes! Absolutely!

Do I think Greg Barton should wear a lifejacket when he ventures out on New York's waterways?

Only if he wants to. He & a lot of the other racers who were there are so far above the average, I just can't lump 'em in with "people".

Even the federal government gives paddlers & rowers of racing craft an out on the lifejacket laws that apply to the rest of us. "Federal law does not require PFDs on racing shells, rowing sculls, racing canoes, and racing kayaks; state laws vary. Check with your state boating safety officials."

Anyways, I really couldn't pick sides & was suddenly reminded of something somebody had said about somebody having some saying about "both sides of the road". And even though the version I came up with wasn't the actual one, somehow it just appealed to my workfrazzled brain anyways.