Avoiding Danger

At breakfast yesterday morning, at our very lovely resort in Puerto Rico, our waiter (who looked a lot like Ricky Martin) asked us if we had any side trips planned for our vacation. And I told him no—we are not very adventurous people that way. I did not wish to snorkel (I am afraid of marine creatures) nor did I wish to jetski or parasail (things people can go splat and die from).  I told him I like to lounge on terra firma and get a tan, swim and go for walks. I liked to stay well within the lines of safety. And the waiter responded that he too respected nature and preferred calmer beach activities.

He also went on to say that he didn’t understand why people intentionally put themselves in danger. He questioned their intelligence. And he mentioned that there is a beach on the other side of the island adjacent to the Marriott hotel where the waters are very rough. And there are signs posted in English and Spanish that warn people not to swim in the water because the current is too dangerous. And every year, in that area with big skull and crossbone signs, someone always drowns. For some reason, people ignore caution and pay a mortal price.

My daughter Kara is in her junior year at Emory University in Atlanta. And as an upperclassman she lives in a gated-in apartment complex on the periphery of campus. She also has a car—as did her sisters when they became juniors in college. Kara uses the car primarily to commute to and from school.

 I called her last night to check in---mothers do that.  I had seen on the news that there had been terrible storms in Atlanta and tornados that blew through the city. And when I asked her about any sustained damage she said that she was safe. And then she giggled. And I asked what was so funny. And she said that she hadn’t really been paying attention that day to the news. She had heard about storm warnings but wasn’t really taking it too seriously. And when she drove to the library earlier that evening she heard lots of sirens going off. She also wondered why there was no traffic—as in absolutely none—on the road. Her car was the only vehicle. Yet she continued to drive to her destination despite the glaring signs that one would have thought would have told her not to continue. At no point did it occur to her that she might be in danger. She merely was happy that there was no traffic. And she thought maybe that the sirens were going off for no reason—it was a malfunction perhaps in the alarm.

So maybe that’s why people drown in the waters near the Marriott in Puerto Rico. It has nothing to do with being overly adventurous or unintelligent. Maybe the condemned people simply misread the signs. Maybe they think oh wow look--a deserted beach—how private! And they look at the surf and think oh wow those waves look great to body surf in. And poof they are dead.

Common sense and intelligence are not mutually exclusive. It’s why mothers worry so much. A wise former boss of mine liked to say the smarter you are, the dumber you get. Forrest Gump would say stupid is as stupid does. There is much validity in that.