DISCLAIMER:

"I agree and acknowledge that I am undertaking participation in VPPPA events and activities as my own free and intentional act, and I am fully aware that possible physical injury might occur to me as a result of my participation in these events."

This was sent to me by one of my professional colleagues. He also sent me the following:

"Umm, we're a safety excellence organization. It amuses me that National feels the need to include this. Now, if "drunken sack races" was a scheduled event, I'd see the reason for the disclaimer. I'd also be the first to sign up"

Now frankly I agree with him. We're supposed to be safety professionals and you'd hardly think we needed reminded about this shit. Except that safety professionals generally cut loose a whole lot more than most folks and are generally "unsafe" (see blog about I AM A SAFETY PROFESSIONAL, then ask me about my scars) I found out the real reason for this disclaimer was that a couple of people got "rolled" in New Orleans. Well, if you're effing stupid enough to be out in a bad area by yourself--well, I'm just sayin.

Now when we had our conference in Dallas, we did have a mechanical bull injury--a couple of them actually. Those people shall remain nameless (Bob and Kevin--oh come on--you knew I was gonna tell you who they were) and the injuries were fairly minor, but mechanical bull riding whilst drunk could be one of those activities, much like drunken sack racing, that should have a disclaimer. Of course, being safety professionals, we don't think those disclaimers apply to us--only the not-so-experienced safety person. And they probably have enough sense to steer far away (no pun intended)