LIFE’S TOO SHORT

Adam Petty’s death shocked the racing world. There’s
no doubt about that. As with other drivers who have died before their time, we’ll never
know what would have been.

As could be expected, a massive outpouring of
sympathy towards the Petty family occurred throughout the week. But unfortunately, one
writer in the northeast (who would want me to mention his name and newspaper), wrote a
piece earlier this week that has gotten way too much attention.

I, like many other race fans, read the piece with
disbelief. How could someone be so cruel to a family at their darkest hour? Part of that
cruelty stems from ignorance of the sport. But anyone who writes for a living, and
especially a "reporter", should investigate the topic before they write about
it.

As would be expected, the online community was
outraged at this article. I’ve seen probably a dozen or more "rebuttals" or
reaction articles in the last week. The writer of the original article has apparently
written his own rebuttal to all the negative feedback he’s gotten. I don’t know what he
says, and I won’t spend my valuable time finding out. It doesn’t matter.

I see now that a web site has been put up that has a
list of the advertisers for that paper, and another one has a link where you can send a
letter to those advertisers.

What a waste.

I know the people who are assembling these web pages
and writing all these "rebuttal" articles think they’re defending racing, or
even Adam Petty’s decision to race. But neither needs defending.

I wonder how many man-hours have been expended in
this? Imagine what those hours could have been used for. If we don’t get anything else out
of the events of the last week, we at least ought to get the message that life is too
short to waste on negative things.

Instead of writing a letter to that paper, write a
letter to your mother. Instead of writing that paper’s advertisers, write your sister, or
brother, or anyone else you haven’t seen in way too long. Or don’t wait until Fathers Day
to give your dad a hug.

I guess I’m saying that instead of expending all
this negative energy towards ONE man, whose uninformed opinion really doesn’t mean
anything, do something positive instead. Send in a $5 bill to the Kyle Petty Charity Ride.
If everyone who’s outraged at this article sent in 5 bucks in Adam Petty’s name, a LOT
more good could come of this situation than trying to "convert" someone who
doesn’t want to be "converted."