This week's Carmel Pine Cone has a front-page story about an averted disaster.
Apparently a huge tree snapped at the base and fell across Highway 68 near the hospital Wednesday morning. As the article explains, Highway 68 is the main route out of Pebble Beach and is frequented by Pebble Beach residents driving expensive luxury cars. When the tree had the audacity to fall, at least it didn't hit a Ferrari or Rolls Royce...just some Prius. Near the end of the article, the Pine Cone finally remembers to tell us that no one was injured.(Carmel Pine Cone, Vol 99, No. 33, August 16-22)
Some unfortunate soul had his or her car destroyed (and probably the scare of a lifetime), the highway was closed for hours, and work crews risked their own necks to cut and move the tree, but the important part -- and this is good news -- no luxury cars were damaged.
(If it had been a Hyundai, I suppose there would have been no story at all.)
Remember the "Sluts" controversy a few months ago? Does anybody at the Pine Cone read the stories before they're published.
For full text of the story, click here.
Hi, I was the driver of the car. Thank you for your concern. My thanks also to everyone else who expressed concern, and the fast work of the firefighters, CHP, and road work crews. My car was totally destroyed, and I came within a millisecond of losing my life, but miraculously walked away without a scratch. Thank God I was driving a Prius!! The sturdy frame saved my life. CHP, EMTs, and auto body folks all confirmed that in a lesser car, I would have died.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Paul Miller, owner, editor and publisher of the Pine Cone refuses to apologize for this article. He defended the headline as a "good joke," and stated that anyone who didn't "get it" was of below average intelligence. He also stated, "You must remember that situations like this (and all news stories) seem different to the public than they do to the people involved. Our newspaper, of course, is written for the community at large. Since no one was hurt, it doesn't seem wrong to highlight the irony of the fact that the tree fell when so many rare cars are on our roads …"
I'm wondering, is this REALLY representative of our "community at large"? I sure as hell hope not!
My NEXT car will emphatically be a Prius, with a bumper sticker that reads "BETTER THAN A BENTLEY".
Thanks again, it's encouraging that I wasn't the only one horrified by this Pine Cone article.