Some idiot skis off a mountain in Nepal. This gets reported as news. Why should anyone care, outside of her immediate family and friends? And how much is spent seeking and recovering her body? It is being flown for an autopsy? SHE CAUSED AN AVALANCHE AND SKIED OFF A FREAKING MOUNTAIN! THERE’S your cause of death!
Then there are the morons in Florida who died in this most recent hurricane. Hell, I live a couple thousand mile away and I knew it was coming. Why are these presented as anything other than examples of how ridiculously stupid people can be?
It isn’t exactly a surprise that hurricanes hit Florida every once in a while, is it? And uh - surprise! Sometimes hurricanes come with high winds, flooding, and power outages! Someone chooses to live there, in a home in a vulnerable area, and doesn’t evacuate in time, why should anyone else care about that?
Evacuating so quickly for people who don’t have their own transportation, might have mobility issues, etc. It’s not always easy. Especially to get out of the way of a hurricane that devastated most of the state.
Well, we lived in the same town with Hilaree and I knew her ex-husband. True enough that if you go into the death zone often enough it will probably bite you, but she was an internationally acclaimed mountaineer and had many many notable accomplishments. If nothing else, have empathy for a community that loses too many people to the mountains, and for her kids.
People might be interested simply because it is unusual. Hurricanes vary in force and effect, this one might be worse than many; plenty of people live or have friends or relatives who live in or close to affected places, and might care about them.
Someone else can talk about the brotherhood of men and the milk of human kindness and yada yada. In human history, far more societies have emphasized cooperation than rugged individuality. But you do you, you big humanist lug, you.
(As an unrelated aside, I can put you in touch with someone should you need a coat with an amusing message next time flying to an area in crisis…)
The woman who died in Nepal was a well-known athlete, an expert in her field. That makes it news. And it’s her family paying for the recovery so it’s their money to waste. No one expects you to care, but criticizing them for doing so seems to overreach a bit.
Evacuating for a hurricane requires resources many people don’t have – try getting from Fort Myers to anywhere else without a car, for example.
It’s rather sad that you equate risk with stupid. By your logic, getting on a plane, living in an earthquake zone, hell, getting in a car, makes people stupid. There is always risk – sitting in front of the TV 20 hours a day puts you at risk of health problems & the risk just gets greater if you plant a tree by the house, or live near a roadway, or under a flight path. People who take risks you don’t aren’t stupid, they’re just more adventurous.
Even if they made a stupid mistake, that just makes them human, and how much of a strain is it really to show a little compassion… isn’t death punishment enough or must we flog the body through the streets.
I hear more news about stupid people dying from people complaining about news coverage of stupid people dying than I do from news coverage of stupid people dying.
It seems like women (especially athletes) really get the OP upset. He’s always making threads telling us about how much he doesn’t care what happens to them
I think it’s fine if a single person dies doing something with a high degree of risk. But did her husband and kids really understand that mom had a hobby that would quite possibly kill her and leave them bereft?
Hey, I loved doing some (much less) dangerous stuff: skiing on unmapped mountains, free climbing some cliffs, hang gliding, rugby, and driving way too fast.
But I gave those up when I got married and had kids. Figured even if I was only in a wheelchair, that’d still be a burden on the family.
(Doesn’t mean I’ve stopped dreaming of danger… how I’d love to jump off a mountain in one of those flying squirrel suits…)
I don’t disagree, but are men held to the same standards? I’m not happy with her abandoning her marriage, but every athlete who risks their life faces these questions.
Well, that also depends, kinda, on what sort of support they get regarding their disability. If they have mobility issues, they might need one of those cars where you don’t need to use feet to drive.
That costs quite a chuck, though. I can only hope that people who decide on these things have some empathy.
Do I, now? Pray tell. This idiot skier and the basketball player in Russia? Have there been more that I ALWAYS make threads about? And you have reason to believe I would feel differently if these were male hoopsters/skiers? (If you believe so, you would be wrong.)
I’ll reiterate that Hilaree was a world renown mountaineer and athlete. This is how she made her living. Did she err on the wrong side of the risk/reward ratio? Maybe so, given that it’s proven. But idiot is far from reality.
