Several losers leaped into local headlines last week: Calvin White, Loop Trail extension opponents and Tiger Woods.  We all lost in the process, some more than the rest of us. What can we gain?
    White soared into lofty investments with wealth from Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises until the economy clipped his wings. Sadly local people face losses, including employees whose only risk was to trust their employer would pay. And the public may lose if the local water district’s $16,000 receivable goes down the drain.
    Loop Trail extension opponents lost money by contesting community preferences. They wanted to protect orchards and protest the government’s condemnation of land for a highway and instead using it for recreational transportation. Of course, they wouldn’t have minded reacquiring the land for its future value. 
    Woods’ losses and escapades came to light in the darkness after he crunched a Cadillac Escalade over a fire hydrant and into a tree trunk. His degeneracy is astonishing, and with his mistress count now at seven, his losses should continue to mount. This may be his most remarkable, deplorable score.
    Why do we fawn over apparent infallibility? Who among the elite is infallible? One possible exception is George Bush who once said he couldn’t think of any mistakes he’d made -- although to be fair, he’s had more time to think about it.  
    Who has never lost money, or an argument? Or never had an automobile accident? With my accident record, my heroes include elite truckers who drive one, two, or even three million miles without an accident. Are they super humans immune to the throb of diesel engines in massive trucks? No. Safety experts discovered they all follow a similar system to avoid accidents.
    They drive with three zones in mind. They drive in a safety zone where risk of an accident is minimized. Their speed matches the conditions and the traffic. The million-milers recognize warning zones and quickly back out into safety zones. When they signal and pass another truck on a two-lane expressway, they’re in a safety zone.  However, a warning zone could occur if both vehicles approach an entrance ramp where another vehicle is entering. A warning zone is a potential danger zone. The danger zone would occur if the entering vehicle doesn’t yield and the truck being passed swerves to avoid it.
    Our latest losers knowlingly, some even heroically, entered warning zones and failed to back out before they crashed. For White, the warning was the amount of debt he accumulated. For Loop Extension opponents, it was repeated losses explained in judicial decisions. For Woods, who knows, but it probably started by drinking alcohol while he was attracted to a waitress, perhaps the one who served him and his wife.  
    Reducing our losses is as mundane as admitting we’re fallible. Power, wealth, fame don’t prevent losses, but do provide resources to cover the crashes for a while. We all take risks and lose to some degree. We are humans with potent passions inside that can be ignited by greed, fame and sex. Alcohol reduces our inhibitions about the warning zone. We need to accept our fallibility, recognize warning zones, and back out of them.