Depending on where you stand on certain issues, I may be a terrible, horrible, evil person, or I may be a pretty decent person with a terrible, horrible, evil sense of humor.

When I read this news item this morning, my first reaction was to begin snickering.

From the Associated Press:

AUSTIN (March 14) – The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died Monday afternoon after being struck by a train, officials said.

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said. A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

The pure irony of this story means it will probably end up a Darwin award, if nothing else, so I’m certain I won’t be the only one to see something funny about this. Yes, it’s a tragedy for the family, but it begs the question: if you were totally deaf, like Miss McAvoy, why walk along railroad tracks and risk not being able to hear a train coming?

I can recall from interviewing deaf students during my college newspaper days that many of them could feel the vibration of music so they could dance, so perhaps Miss McAvoy thought she’d feel the train, but obviously that wasn’t the case.

If her other senses were heightened at all, apparently common sense was not one of them.

So perhaps I’m a terrible, horrible, evil person with a terrible, horrible, evil sense of humor, but at least this teaches us all a valuable lesson: the blind should not drive across a minefield, the totally paralyzed should not attempt skydiving, and the deaf shouldn’t walk places where a 3 ½ ton diesel locomotive can sneak up on them.