Now John Henry was a
mighty man, yes sir. He was born a slave in the 1840's but was freed after the
war. He went to work as a steel-driver for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad,
don't ya know. And John Henry was the strongest, the most powerful man working
the rails. John Henry, he would spend
his days drilling holes by hitting thick steel spikes into rocks with his
faithful shaker crouching close to the hole, turning the drill after each
mighty blow. There was no one who could match him, though many tried.
Well, the new railroad
was moving along right quick, thanks in no little part to the mighty John
Henry. But looming right smack in its path was a mighty enemy - the Big Bend
Mountain. Now the big bosses at the C&O Railroad decided that they couldn't
go around the mile and a quarter thick mountain. No sir, the men of the C&O
were going to go through it - drilling right into the heart of the mountain.
A thousand men would
lose their lives before the great enemy was conquered. Then one day a salesman
came along to the camp. He had a steam-powered drill and claimed it could
out-drill any man. Well, they set up a contest then and there between John
Henry and that there drill. The foreman ran that newfangled steam-drill. John
Henry, he just pulled out two 20-pound hammers, one in each hand. They drilled
and drilled, dust rising everywhere. The men were howling and cheering. At the
end of 35 minutes, John Henry had drilled two seven foot holes - a total of
fourteen feet, while the steam drill had only drilled one nine-foot hole. John
Henry held up his hammers in triumph! The men shouted and cheered. The noise
was so loud, it took a moment for the men to realize that John Henry was
tottering. Exhausted, the mighty man crashed to the ground, the hammer's
rolling from his grasp. The crowd went silent as the foreman rushed to his
side. But it was too late. A blood vessel had burst in his brain. The greatest
driller in the C&O Railroad was dead.
This story was one that was told around Black History Month
and was one of hard work, will & determination, and most importantly human
sacrifice. All of the afore-mentioned characteristics are ones that our
ancestors fought and died for many years ago in order for us to have the freedoms
we often take for granted today. In
today’s technologically savvy society, big corporations are constantly
improving on new products and are even creating things that make some natural
human functions obsolete. Things like Global
Positioning Systems (GPS), Roombas (robot vacuums), and Siri/Alexa interfaces
(personal assistants) are substitutions for human functions that are no longer
taught (reading maps, properly cleaning rooms/homes, and actually doing
research on information you want to know).
The only fear that I have sometimes with these new technologies is will
they soon replace humans all together?
Knowing that even more technologies are being created every
day, do you feel that society/tech companies are going too far with their
inventions of machines that “make our lives easier”? Are there any jobs that
you feel should never be
replaced with robots/machines? If so,
what are those jobs? Why shouldn’t those
jobs be replaced? Do you feel that there
are some jobs that should be replaced by robots/machines? If so, what are those jobs? Why should those jobs be replaced?
Mr. C
This blog is due March 3 by 11:59 PM and should be at least
250 words. Remember to comment on this
blog, DO NOT create your own.
