Re: [Paddlewise] How and when to speak up

<<I sometimes wonder if telling people what is good for them isn't counter 
productive, much of the times.>>

I agree so I don't go in this path. It isn't a rule or law. Forget what 
anyone has to do in any form.

<<If someone sees everyone doing something one way and decides to do it 
some other way, don't you think maybe it was a conscious thought?>>

Maybe it is just ignorance of why they are doing things the way they are. I 
think people with a bunch of gear are gear-heads to start with. If someone 
tells me what's up I'll listen.

<<I can only compare this to the motorcycle helmet debate. Most would 
agree that a helmet will protect your head..? , but I have seen people 
blasting along the highways with one on and wearing shorts, no shirt, 
thongs, and have some little thing on the back, barefooted and a halter 
top. Got them helmets on though! :-(>>
I firmly disagree with this argument. The risk of falling from a bike at 75 
mph is OBVIOUS but 40 degree water is a hidden trap. 
    For those who weren't here last March I'll recount the reaction I got 
from my trip report in really cold conditions. Not long, I promise <G>. I 
just didn't know that wet suits weren't enough. The first time I went out I 
was told we couldn't go out without them by an outfitter. But they let us go 
out with them so I thought wetsuits were what we needed. I was told by folk 
here, in no uncertain terms, that at that time of the year in the DC area a 
drysuit was essential to survival.
    We THEN made the choice to continue. We had not known, so telling us was 
educational. Once we KNEW we could decide. Until we KNEW we couldn't decide. 
    If someone knows a thing they can make choices. If they don't know they 
can't decide because they don't' understand the options they have. This list 
and the CPA list educated us and we made decisions from what we were given. 
We now BOTH have drysuits. for this winter. We can offer that choice to 
others if we offer it as a choice for them.

<<My personal opinion is to help pass on help and information to those that 
ask, but don't try to cram it down those that likely don't.>>
How can you ask if you don't know you don't know?

I agree with David Seng << I usually opt for the "teach by asking questions" 
approach.  It's not very confrontational and people tend to remember lessons 
that they've
"discovered" on their own. >> If people have to think, they will understand 
much more deeply than if you tell them a thing. They trust their own 
discoveries more than what others discover.

Do you always tell . . . ? No, you say what is open to be said. You speak in 
ways your listeners can hear. Sometimes there is nothing they can hear and no 
way to help. You can harden the opinion of the ignorant so you say what you 
believe is right and let the rest go. If you have done your best that is all 
you can do in any situation.
    You can only act on what you know and how you understand it, just as they 
will.

Joan Spinner
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