Risk

I filled out a job application the other day and in addition to the normal info there was also a questionnaire at the end. It involved situational questions as well as some "personality" questions. One question in particular stuck in my memory and it was about risk. The question asked about calculated risks. It caught me by surprise and made me pause. In my mind, I thought the "right" answer would have been that I don't take calculated risks but putting that as my answer would have been a flat out lie. I hope nobody puts that as their answer because if they do, they're not answering truthfully, either.

It stuck in my mind because I've wondered about it since I submitted my application. I don't know the right answer. I put the answer just above the "I don't take any calculated risks." My answer was worded something like "I'm cautious and take slight calculated risks." I don't know if that was the best answer but it was the one I could put and feel mostly truthful.

Here is a web definition of the phrase: –noun. a chance of failure, the probability of which is estimated before some action is undertaken.

I think being a road cyclist puts me in the category slightly above normal people. We drive our cars everyday without a second thought about the risk but a bike is a different story. Every. single. time. I am on the road with cars, I am taking a risk. I can control my actions but I can't control everyone else. Of course that fact is true in a car as well but there is a steel box around me when I'm in the car. Obviously, that is not the case on a bike. I am trusting that drivers will see me and steer clear. I am trusting that drivers will act predictably at a 4-way stop or a stop light. But that's not always the case. There have been several stories this year of cars vs. bikes and the riders losing. It hasn't stopped me but I have thought twice about it. If I stopped and dwelled on it too much I don't think I'd ever ride on the road again.