Re: [Paddlewise] Whirlpools and Other Dastardly Thingys

I've commented before on what I think is the "Disneyland Complex" in which
dumbf***s secretly believe that the world is a gigantic theme park and if
they get hurt it's someone else's fault. Everyone on this list has ample
examples of this, I suspect.

Part of the problem is that an entire generation seems to think that
everything is more fun while drunk. And I have to say that I think the
popular media feeds into this. But we're not going to solve that problem
here.

Another big part of the problem is the bureaucratic tendency, as Rich said,
to write a rule or pass a law whenever there is a problem. I watched this
first hand when incompetent managers tried to stomp out any mistakes by
writing a new regulation. By the time I left we had books of regulations no
one read until there was another mistake; if there was already a regulation
that covered it then the managers happily disciplined the hapless
worker-bee. If there was not a regulation they wrote one. Pretty soon no one
can do anything for fear of violating some rule. It doesn't take long for an
organization to become hamstrung by its own rules. And it's not just
government that does this.

But we're not gonna solve that problem here either.

What we can do is try to identify the dumf***s who might be able to learn
and try to educate them. Happily there are probably more people doing that
in this forum than in most. Including a few who have been doing it for 3
decades and more.

Let me say to them, here and now, "thanks".I know that it's not easy and
often thankless. Very often, in fact, people deride you when you try to
help. Keep up the good work.

When I led a Boy Scout troop (for ten years... another pretty much thankless
task... I made it a point to deride stupidity and especially the stupidity
of drugging oneself in the search for fun. I especially loved the guy who
says, "Boy I was so wasted last night!" My response is always the same, "How
long did it take you to learn how to do that?". It almost always results lin
a long pause.

None of my kids smoked because I harped on them, always with good humor, to
not be so stupid they couldn't read the clear warnings actually written on
the packs of cigarettes. And just how stupid is it to spend good money to
consume a product that will not only make you smell like crap but kill you
in the bargailn?

Standing on the edge of a cliff, sitting a kid on a railing above the zoo's
gorilla exhibit, and their like all deserve a good round of derision by the
media and by individuals. The Darwin Awards do a lot for that, I think. I'm
sure someone will sue them.

Although we can all be stupid now and then, no one likes to be called stupid
or be thought of as stupid. It's a powerful tool and used right, trying not
to simply deride people for fun, it can produce results.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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