9:02 a.m. on May 2, 2012 (EDT)
mo480 said:
You all take a lot of liberties with your assumptions. As always there is much more to the story then reported.
Ok, I guess I am missing something. A person takes a survival course, and learns one should always leave an itinerary behind before setting out on a hike. She doesn’t. What more can there be to this story, other than she chose to ignore the most basic of wisdom such a course can offer?
..I have never met so many people who have never sinned and are so ready with the first stone…
I frequently bring up my own stupid exploits making a poster child of myself, so others may avoid replicating my stupidity. Read my profile, you will come up with all sorts of adjective to describe me by, but not holier than thou.
..I hope if misfortune sets upon you, maybe a crash in rainy weather....why didn't you go slower, have new tires, etc.... that you do not make headlines…
Sometime our deeds earn us such fame. The difference between humans and wildebeests is we can examine cause and effect, share our observations, and find a better way to get across the river next time. The wildebeest just frets over their loses each time the crocs take one down, and repeats the same dangerous activity on every river crossing, lacking the means of critical thinking. I think most comments herein are intent on seeing fewer of our kind perish needlessly, hence why she is the poster child du jour for what not to do. So we can just feel sorry for her, and no one be the wiser, or we can make this into a learning opportunity, and improve the odds next time some one sets out on a solo hike.
..the country is full of truly self righteous people who have never had misfortune befall them.
Let’s first agree breaking a leg is misfortune, but that is the only part of this story related to misfortune. Her near death was caused by other issues. She almost perished because she made bad choices. Not leaving an itinerary behind, and not including the basics in her day pack are not the result of some misfortune, they are the result of choices the hiker was in absolute control over. We have no problem stating an auto thief got his just desert when he gets jail time. By your reasoning, however, we should feel sorry for his “misfortune.” But something tells me you think there is a difference between the thief and the hiker. Frankly I see little difference; both hiker and thief chose to flout conventional wisdom and made foolish choices.
When someone stinks up an elevator with a fart, there is no getting around the fact someone lacks manners; stating so isn’t being judgmental, it is stating the obvious. And like the elevator violator, even this hiker knows she made some foolish choices. So I am stating the obvious here. I may not be PC, but I am sincere. On the other hand I think you have taken liberties assuming we have inappropriate agendas behind our comments. Based on other's remarks regarding your comments, that is also stating the obvious.
If you truly think she was a victim of misfortune then you should read other threads regarding similar "misfortunes." Hopefully you'll realize the words misfortune, ignorance, and foolishness are not interchangeable, and that folks on this forum generally know which aptly describes each situation.
BTW: Mo I don't mean to get up in your grill, it is a fine thing you take other's feelings under consideration; but I do feel the attitude of the remarks you take difference to are more attributable to dismay and concern to preclude future such mishaps, than some desire to trash this hiker.
Ed