This morning the ubiquitous hotel gift of the USA Today did not show up outside our room. So I stopped by the front desk and they gave me a copy of the local newspaper, the Charleston Post & Courier. You know I can't start my morning without a newspaper, any newspaper.
The headline on the front page was 3 Dead in Boating Nightmare. Several people who live on a small island which is only approachable by boat were returning home when their boat capsized 15 feet from shore. None of the passengers were wearing life vests and none knew how to swim! The tragedy is magnified by how preventable it was. An 11-month old baby survived because he was in a boat seat, but by the time help got to him his body temperature was in the 80s and his survival is still uncertain.
If you live on an island that has no bridge linking it to the mainland, shouldn't learning to swim be a priority? And failing that, shouldn't you scrupulously abide by boating laws requiring life vests? I admit that I have ridden many times in boats without wearing a life vest. But I am a good swimmer. Arguably, I should still wear one in case I am knocked unconscious in a boating accident. But I don't. So I'm being kind of hypocritical here. I admit it.
The final piece of the story that left me pondering people's choices and the solutions they posit was this:
Smalls, the injured infant's grandfather, said he hopes residents will reconsider the need for a bridge after this deadly accident.
Is the way to prevent this kind of tragedy a matter of taxpayers paying millions to build a bridge or for residents of the island to take responsibility for themselves and learn how to swim and adhere to boat safety rules?
Di
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