2012: Post 11 – Risky Business

There is an article about two guys who climbed an iceberg near Quidi Vidi.  I read the article and then read some of the comments.  Some people thought it was a cool thing to do and then there were those who thought it was a fool thing to do.  I guess everyone has their own opinion.  Here is mine…

Every activity that people do carries a risk.  Yes, some things are riskier than others.   But with proper training and some preparation the risks can be mitigated to acceptable levels.  And yes, no matter how skilled and prepared, some people do things that go bad that ends up costing taxpayer’s money to send in the SAR to save them or recover their bodies.  What is the alternative - just sit on our couches and do nothing?

Let’s not take our family camping because one of the kids might fall down a ravine.  Let’s not go to the gym because we might hurt ourselves and have to go to the hospital.  Don’t drive a car because you might cause an accident.  Instead, let’s all just sit in our houses, safe and sound.  But wait, we shouldn’t have a house because the people who build houses might injure themselves while constructing it….  Okay, then let’s just huddle together in the woods and hope we do not die of pneumonia…  Okay, okay, now I’m just getting a little bit silly, but you get my point.  The fact is every activity we do carries risk and sometimes the costs for our activities is carried by the taxpayer.

Now, I think that people should not go out and do things they have not prepared for.  I have no climbing skills so I have no business climbing icebergs – the risk to me and the cost to others for my stupidity are far too high. But I was taught to walk a long time ago and have a lot of experience walking so why shouldn’t I walk across the road after looking both ways…  If a car hit’s me in doing so and its costs the taxpayers to have the police and ambulance come to the accident scene then was I wrong to have tried to cross the road?  And if I die of my injuries, well… like John Wayne said in one of his westerns…“everybody gets dead.”

Even the guy who sits on his couch all his life will likely have to go to the hospital at some point, probably from a heart attack due to inactivity, and that will cost the taxpayer’s money.  And sitting on the couch all your life will likely be what will kill you anyway.

I say, get out there and explore some of the things life has to offer; go camping, take a drive, or walk across the road.  Just keep an eye on the kids while camping, take a driving course and get your licence before you take that drive, and look both ways before you walk cross the road…

Kind a close, there Tony!!!

I can guarantee that no matter how careful you are, and no matter how much the risks are mitigated, we are all going to die and we are all going to pay taxes while we live, and the taxes collected will definitely be spent on something anyway.

I remember reading this line somewhere once... "life is a terminal disease and nobody's getting out of this act alive."  Pay your taxes.  Mitigate the risky business.  But do have some fun.