[Paddlewise] 'ethical' dealings with safety (long?)

'Ethical' and 'Sales' are not mutually exclusive terms, though it
may pose for some as an oxymoron.

Well intentioned and even exuberant sales people are great sources
for misdirective information.  This alone does not make them 
'unethical'.
Sales people are often the source of 'bad' and potentially 'dangerous'
information. "I've been paddling 20 years and never tipped a poke 
boat..."
"As long as you stay close to shore, you're perfectly safe without 
a...."
"Oh, well, it's not like you're gonna take this thing to Alaska or 
nothin'.."

The better merchants match customers with the proper product for use 
under a proper
range of conditions.  An 'outdoors/lifestyle' store I worked at in the 
1970's
was notorious for selling neophyte backpackers gear that would better 
suit
an expedition to Denali, when the local state park was as far they 
intended
to roam.  As an 'unwritten store policy', that behavior was 'unethical'.

The kayak/paddling merchants I trust acknowledge that safety, proper 
outfitting,
training & practice, etc. are all part of the  necessary package.
They 'advocate' a 'relationship' with their customer.
It doesn't auger well for sales if you literally kill off repeat 
business.

I've returned year after year to deal with an outfitter in Maine who 
provides
top notch skills sessions, widely acclaimed trip guiding, and sincerely 
brings
their best efforts when selling their products and services.  They take 
a wide
view of their world and the foot prints they leave behind.  I'm over a 
thousand
miles away. Dealing with them is worth the trip every time.

I bought my Romany from a shop some four hours away because they
let me use six different boats over the course of a two day skills 
class. This
helped me put potential boats through paddling and rescue sessions to 
get
a much better feel for fit and characteristics.  When it comes time to 
buy
another boat, I will go there first.

When a 'customer' wants to buy an 'idea', there are no shortage of 
people
willing to meet those needs at a reasonable price.  Merchants with 
integrity
will try to help the 'client' articulate those 'ideas' in more concrete 
terms.
This sometimes kills sales because it hinders, impedes, and complicates 
the 'idea'.

Someone in an earlier post advocated the 'spark' that pushes people to 
take
to the water, and how all of these laws and regulations encumber and 
burden
that initiative at no real gain in safety.  Someone else suggested that 
the 'sea
sorted people out'.   True that.  Still, SAR people and 'civilians' on 
the water
are bound by 'ethics' to respond to boaters in need/peril/danger.  It's 
an ethic
that has been codified into laws and through which people have been 
punished
for wrongful acts and/or depraved indifference.

We cannot buy or sell a boat, nor can we paddle solely within the 
vacuum of
an 'idea'. We do so in a concrete, tangible world that also includes 
other people.
If our awareness does not expand to consider diverse consequence to 
ourselves and
to others, then we operate under a very self-serving 'ethic' indeed.
Nothing screws up a Leave No Trace outing like a corpse.

-Will


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