[Paddlewise] The "W" Word

I've had a while to cogitate on the Strosaker/Gabriel-induced flap.  Jim
received a little back channel blip from me in reaction to his first post. 
But, I think we need to legitimize the "W" word.

--------------

It boggles me that two aggressive, talented, moxie guys like Jim and Duane feel
compelled to typify "99%" of the rest of us as "wimps" because we do not seek
to test the limits of our gear and our skills in a way similar to what they
do.  

An analogy might help:  I drive a car.  It is a straight-up Toyota pickup. 
It's not a race car because I don't have the reflexes or temperament to handle
a race car on ordinary highways, let alone race it.   And, so, I don't race it
or any other vehicle.  Yet, I can enjoy reading (or watching) the exploits of
others who are good at racing cars.  In fact, the racers often are quoted in
newsprint as enjoying what they do.  What I **never** hear them say is:  "The
rest of you drivers out there are wimps ... because ... [you don't race cars]" 
or words to that effect.

The professional racers recognize that "driving a car" is an experience which
has a variety of expressions and textures that spans the limits from me in my
funky '96 Toyota, bumping down a logging road to my favorite fishing hole, to
an adrenaline junkie hitting an open stretch of windy road in his Ferrari. 
And, they do not feel compelled to knock ordinary drivers because they do not
aspire to handle a race car.

So, I wonder what it is in the psychological makeup of a Duane or a Jim that
compels him to haul out the "W" word to apply to the rest of us?

I bet Wes Boyd does not feel it applies to him as he serenely lollygags along
the shore of a nearby lake, communing with the migrating geese.

I suspect Natalie Wiest never felt it applied to her and Doug Lloyd (the PW
poster child for accepting self-abuse) when they did an "easy" paddle on Doug's
home waters.

And, I sure as hell reject its application to me when I nod my way around the
duck hunters and sagging vegetation of my local waters.

I enjoy reading about the exploits of Strosaker/Gabriel and their ilk.  I'm
glad they are out there testing their limits.  More power to them, for the rest
of us are enriched by their existence.  Maybe sometimes they take a risk I
would not take.  That is their style, however, and they live and die by the
consequences of the choices they make.  If they decide to make a crossing in
fog I would not make, that's their lookout, but I **do not** have a problem
with the choice they made.

And I hope they would extend me the same courtesy, when I make my choices of
paddling style and locale.

Is that too much to ask?

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
--
ex-climber (lost several friends, none on my rope, though)
ex-surfer (only one head injury)
permanent wimp (and proud of it)

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