On Questionnable Definitions.

I just read a news report from Paris about two police officers who revived a woman declared dead by paramedics an hour earlier. She’d had a heart attack, apparently, but they noticed her abdomen moving, checked that she had a pulse, and then performed CPR to get her heart going again. She’s currently recovering in hospital.

OK. Nice story. The officers are to be congratulated and should be given official commendations. I applaud their actions. I do. Wholeheartedly. OK?

But now the commissioner in charge of their district says they should be given a bravery award. So tell me, what did they do that was brave? Bravery means taking action in the face of danger. Where was the danger? What were they risking?

I’m seeing more and more of this lately – officialdom making dumb statements. So how are we choosing our officials these days? Where are we going wrong?