The locomotive of a cargo train derailed in northern Colorado early Wednesday, spilling hundreds of gallons of diesel, authorities said.
The Great Western Railway locomotive did not tip over when it went off the rails at a switch in the tracks just before 1 a.m. but a fuel tank was punctured, the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority said in a Facebook post. The spill was contained and did not get into any waterways, it said.
No one was injured in the derailment, which happened near a sugar factory in an area not far from some homes, Battalion Chief Kevin Hessler said. The other locomotive and three cars carrying sugar did not derail, he said.
Sometimes you’ve got to appreciate some good luck.
Got raped? You’re lucky you didn’t get raped twice you ungrateful bitch!
Spilt fuel and rape are vastly different things.
The same logic applies to any situation where we naturally want to prevent future incidents. We should not focus on gratitude that it wasn’t worse. Everything could always be worse. The point is to make things better.
Spilled oil is objectively bad, and to be harshly criticized, every time.
Spilled fuel (not oil) is objectively bad, but a small spill is objectively less bad than a large spill.
To take your rape analogy, it’s more like non-pentrative sexual assault vs full blown rape. Both are sexual assault, both are bad, but one is worse.
The big problem here is that the root cause of a small spill like this is the same as for the large spills: poor maintenance and lack of enforcement in the rail industry. The only reason this was a small spill is pure luck. Thus, this deserves equal criticism, but we can still be thankful for the luck.
There’s no function or purpose to your false gratitude. Condemn the spill. Full stop.
Sure there is. If you get equally upset over every injustice, you lose sight of what’s actually important. Not all situations are equally bad, and thus shouldn’t be treated as if they are.
Spilling 100 gallons of fuel is BAD. Spilling 1000 gallons of fuel is WORSE. People should be thankful that it was 100, not 1000 because:
It makes people less miserable. Seriously, if you’re upset over every small injustice equally, you’re going to be just miserable. Find the silver lining.
It focuses on all-or-nothing solutions. If you say 100 gallons and 1000 gallons are just as bad, because it’s still a spill, it means I, as a company, have no reason to incentivize disaster mitigation. Bad things will happen, it’s important to put measures in place specifically to minimize them. To turn this disaster from a 1000 gallon disaster into a 100 gallon disaster.
I’m grateful when there are no spills. I’m critical when there are spills. You’re whitewashing to minimize the pushback. You’re seeking to cause harm. Gratitude is the wrong response.
I’m grateful that the small electrical fire I had two years ago was able to be put out and didn’t destroy my home.
I’m grateful that the pothole I hit last year only destroyed a wheel, and not my whole car. I’m even more grateful that it didn’t launch me into traffic, probably killing me.
I wish these things hadn’t happened at all. I’m not grateful that they occurred. I’m grateful that they weren’t WORSE.
I’ve also learned and taken steps to mitigate further disasters of the se nature from possibly becoming these worst case scenarios. I keep the fire extinguisher closer. I slow down a bit more and keep more follow distance.
This is why people choose to be grateful that a small tragedy isn’t a larger one. It lets us get some perspective, learn what is actually important about these situations, and take steps to make them less likely to occur in the future. I’m also a bit happier today, I’m able to say “it could be so much worse.”
What a false dichotomy. You can be thankful things weren’t worse, AND be pissed off it happened at all. Two things can exist at the same time it happens every day!
You’re a goon and a shill.
And you’re an ignoramus and buffoon, I can do that too. Got an actual rebuttal, or just wanna prove yourself as dense as you seem to be?
I’d rather have somebody pretend to perceive me as an “ignoramus and buffoon” than to make people feel grateful for an oil spill.
Who’s pretending anything here? And who’s grateful for a spill? Certainly not me, are these people here with us?
It’s like you read one word, and make the rest of the argument up.