What Do You Think?
So, within the last couple of weeks, we have heard about two separate cases of people being trapped in snowstorms on the West Coast (the family from SanFran who apparently thought it would be a great idea to take a scenic shortcut through a national park) and some climbers who thought that December would be an ideal time to climb Mt. Hood.
Now, I try very hard to not be judgmental about these things. (The Clam will tell you, I really do try.) As far as the family goes, I thought: well, they're city slickers. I'll bet they don't get many snow storms in SanFran. So they made a tragic mistake. (Well, several actually. They didn't have emergency supplies, extra food or the right kind of clothes. They apparently didn't realize their cell phone wouldn't work well in the mountains, and they had an infant with them.) However, the climbers made a conscious choice to decide to climb Mt. Hood in December, when it has already been well-established that the west coast is having an odd winter - hello - snow in Vancouver!?!?!
Living in Michigan, every year we have news stories in March about people who wanted to go ice fishing "one last time this winter" and need to be rescued when the ice breaks apart.
The underlying problem, I think, is that we are just too cocky. We think we have everything figured out, and there are no more challenges. The problem is, Mother Nature is an untamed force.
So here's my question: should you and I be responsible for picking up the tab for the Darwin Award semi-finalists who decide that Mt. Hood is just ASKING to be climbed in December (or in Michigan, that the ice LOOKED fine!)? Do I sound too much like Ebenezer Scrooge? (Are there no workhouses? Are there no orphanages?)
But seriously, you know, I can be driving on I-75 to the UP and have a breakdown in December, and might need rescuing, but you will not catch me attempting to climb a mountain in the dead of winter, or going out on the ice when it's been above freezing. That's called "common sense." Besides which, I have AAA. Which is just common sense, living in Michigan. These rescue missions can get very expensive. I saw a news story in which the father of the family insinuated that not enough was done to rescue the Kim family. Now, I sympathize with James Kim's plight, and it had to be a horrible way to die. But, BUT...he's the one who made the bad choice. Now his family is insinuating that they are going to sue the rescuers for doing a shoddy rescue job, when (I'm sorry) it's their own d*mn fault they ended up stuck for 10 days.
Grandma always said that common sense is very uncommon.
Am I a horrible person? (Don't answer that, Clam!)
Now, I try very hard to not be judgmental about these things. (The Clam will tell you, I really do try.) As far as the family goes, I thought: well, they're city slickers. I'll bet they don't get many snow storms in SanFran. So they made a tragic mistake. (Well, several actually. They didn't have emergency supplies, extra food or the right kind of clothes. They apparently didn't realize their cell phone wouldn't work well in the mountains, and they had an infant with them.) However, the climbers made a conscious choice to decide to climb Mt. Hood in December, when it has already been well-established that the west coast is having an odd winter - hello - snow in Vancouver!?!?!
Living in Michigan, every year we have news stories in March about people who wanted to go ice fishing "one last time this winter" and need to be rescued when the ice breaks apart.
The underlying problem, I think, is that we are just too cocky. We think we have everything figured out, and there are no more challenges. The problem is, Mother Nature is an untamed force.
So here's my question: should you and I be responsible for picking up the tab for the Darwin Award semi-finalists who decide that Mt. Hood is just ASKING to be climbed in December (or in Michigan, that the ice LOOKED fine!)? Do I sound too much like Ebenezer Scrooge? (Are there no workhouses? Are there no orphanages?)
But seriously, you know, I can be driving on I-75 to the UP and have a breakdown in December, and might need rescuing, but you will not catch me attempting to climb a mountain in the dead of winter, or going out on the ice when it's been above freezing. That's called "common sense." Besides which, I have AAA. Which is just common sense, living in Michigan. These rescue missions can get very expensive. I saw a news story in which the father of the family insinuated that not enough was done to rescue the Kim family. Now, I sympathize with James Kim's plight, and it had to be a horrible way to die. But, BUT...he's the one who made the bad choice. Now his family is insinuating that they are going to sue the rescuers for doing a shoddy rescue job, when (I'm sorry) it's their own d*mn fault they ended up stuck for 10 days.
Grandma always said that common sense is very uncommon.
Am I a horrible person? (Don't answer that, Clam!)
posted by The Big Seester | 1:32 PM
2 Comments:
I am glad I live in a country that pulls out all the stops to rescue people who screw up badly. I don't think people who screw up should be able to sue their rescuers, regardless of whether or not they did a great job. I hadn't heard that James Kim's family was threatening to sue. That really saddens me. Perhaps someone who knows them and loves them can tell them gently to sit down and shut up.
As far as the climbers are concerned, as someone who has done solo camping trips into the wilderness, I think people who voluntarily undertake that kind of inherently dangerous activity should be required to check-in with the rangers on their way out and elect rescue or non-rescue. If they elect rescue, they should be required to pay the cost. If they can't afford it, they can stay home or buy insurance or bear the risk.
John,
I agree with you that it's better for us as a nation to rescue regardless of cost. But quite frankly, it's starting to cheese me off that we end up spending so much rescuing people. I mean, every year we hear the warnings here in Michigan - don't go ice fishing if the temperature has been hovering around the freezing point for several days. I know it, and I have never been ice fishing!
I also understand the inherent "challenge the wilderness" mentality that people get. One likes to prove oneself against the elements. However, often people don't take basic precautions. I like your "checking in and electing rescue or non-rescue" thing. That's a good plan.
I do feel badly for these people, and freezing to death is really high on my list of ways I don't want to die. But at the same time, why should the citizens of Oregon have to cough up the $$ for the rescue of these guys?
I guess part of what irks me is that this is not Nature screwing them over; this is them deciding to put themselves in a dangerous situation and then everybody else having to bail them out. At least with the Kims, it was pure ignorance. These guys did it on purpose.
Welcome to the blog!
TBS
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