Meet Gump Worsely, who played goalie in the National Hockey League.
Gump was famous for playing without a mask and helmet long after almost everyone else in pro hockey had adopted this protection. Slap shots would fly at his face at speeds often exceeding 100 miles per hour, but as Wikipedia says (so we know it must be true!), he told reporters he went without a mask because, “My face is my mask.”
I guess it was his choice, as he was grandfathered in and didn’t have to follow the new rule.
I think of Gump when I hear people complain or express anxiety about their privacy in Facebook. One of the things I want to ask them is…
Did you remember to put on your mask and helmet?
Facebook has extensive built-in privacy protections that you can control. And next week I’m going to have a course to show you how to configure your settings according to your preferences. You can go to your Facebook privacy settings to start exploring right now, if you’d like.
On an interesting side note, I discovered this other side of Gump in my extensive Wikipedia-based research for this post:
Worsley was also well known for his fear of flying. He suffered a nervous breakdown in the 1968–69 season after a rough flight from Montreal’s Dorval Airport to Chicago on November 25 en route to Los Angeles, and received psychiatric treatment and missed action as a result. It is said that when he came out of retirement to play for the North Stars he was assured that, as Minnesota was in the central part of the continent, the team traveled less than any other in the league.
Air travel was significantly less risky than having high-speed projectiles shot at his unprotected face. Yet Gump’s fears didn’t match the comparative risks of the two activities.
Next week we’ll work at easing any fears you might have about your privacy in Facebook.
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