False Comparison

I received an e-mail from a friend. I responded, and need to share:

From: Pedestrian in Motion
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 9:34 AM
Subject: It's about time

Friends: Remember how many people didn’t truly begin to pay attention to AIDS until Rock Hudson – someone famous – died of it. Sadly I believe the same is true for cellphone use while driving. Until someone famous is tragically hurt or killed by a driver paying more attention to his toys than the road, it will receive limited attention. And now with the advent of texting, even less attention is being paid to the road. Here’s the latest on the damage that can be done. I’ve told y’all before and I’ll say it again—please do not call me while on the road. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/opinion/23thu3.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

From: AntiBlogger
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 11:43 AM
Subject: RE: It's about time

Hey, I’ve thought about this a full day before responding to make sure that I wasn’t having a knee-jerk reaction. Turns out, I wasn’t, so here goes:
I fully agree with you that cell phones in general (talking or texting) are distractions and I look forward to the day when their use is abolished in all 50 states and not just a handful of them.
Famous people, though apparently not famous enough, have suffered serious injury and death thanks to cell phone use. Most notably: supermodel Niki Taylor (serious injury) and most recently Josh Hancock of the St. Louis Cardinals (death). How many stories have we heard lately about bus and train conductors texting? Idiots, all.
That said, what really struck a nerve with me was your opening salvo.
The AIDS epidemic cannot and must not be minimized and compared to driving while distracted. There is no apples-to-apples comparison about it, whatsoever. Yes, Rock Hudson and others (Ryan White, Arthur Ashe, Anthony Perkins, Magic Johnson to name a few) bring a ton of attention, and that’s a good thing. It is not the same thing, I don’t care how you package and present it.
I am certain you meant absolutely no ill by your comparison, but I rabidly disagree with the comparison. You are my friend and I value your opinions and I enjoy our heart-to-hearts and get-togethers and hope to for many years to come. I simply couldn’t let this pass and needed to tell you how I feel. You know I’m not a boat-rocker, but I had to speak up.