It's like your mother always said, if you play your music too loud in those earphones, you'll get killed by fallen aircraft... wait, was that it?

I just came across this ... intriguing (absurd, sad and almost unbelievable) story in my newsreader* about a young BC man who was just minding his own business, walking to the mailbox, wearing a hoodie and blaring music through his earphones, when he was suddenly and tragically struck, dragged and killed by ... a crashing helicopter. 

Yes, you read that correctly, this poor pedestrian was evidently so enthralled with his music and mail that he didn't hear (or see) a three-ton aircraft plunge to the earth and probably flail around uncontrollably (sorry, I had to) as it slid towards and ultimately over top of him.

As absurd as this story is, it is obviously still quite sad, but the most incongruous part of the Globe article, to me anyway, is the angle the reporter takes, which concentrates on the renewed controversy sparked by this event over the use of loud headphones on or near roads. 

Now I certainly agree that it is just common sense to make sure you can hear when you are going to be near moving vehicles, but let's be serious here, this kid was not hit by a city bus, it was a lightweight aircraft, keyword being air, where it ought to have stayed. 

I mean, the thing could just as easily have plummeted through the skylight in his living room while he was blaring that Nine Inch Nails album over his integrated BOSE sound system. Would the anti-loud music lobby have made a fuss then? (And supplemental question - Is there really an anti-loud music lobby?)

In related news, a Vermont man was struck and killed by an asteroid while jaywalking. Safe road-crossing advocates say he had it coming.

*A far cry from my j-school days, when I consumed a couple local and national newspapers per day, I now apparently get my dose of the Globe and Mail from... American gadget blog Gizmodo? Ah well.