Speaking Ill of the Dead (again)

[howeird]

I'm sorry he's dead. I'm much, much more sorry for his widow and children. And for all the people whose hopes were raised way beyond reasonable expectations by stupid media coverage.

When I heard they had burned the tires, I lost all hope. That's just plain dumb - I drove that road last April and it's a forest. Even green wet wood is easier to burn than a tire. And there would have been plenty of dry kindling under the snow, if they had thought to dig a little.

And what kind of idiot takes off on a trip through the mountains without flares?

Someone at Cnet called him a hero, but a hero doesn't abandon his family to go trekking into unknown woods unprepared. They say he had two lighters with him, but there apparently was no evidence he tried to use them.

Kudos to the rescue people who thought to track a cell phone ack signal in an area where there is no service.

This story shows how desperate we are for happy endings. And how completely out of proportion the media can blow up a story. To paraphrase Rick in Casablanca, "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of four little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

Comments

WTF!!!!

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

I hate it when this happens, but I agree with you. I think the whole thing is a tragedy and sucks beyond belief. I hate to see things like this happen and I really feel for his family but....

Why in the name of fuck would you drive up into the mountains without enough gas, why would you take a shortcut, why, why, why??? Jesus watch a horror movie sometimes, take a map, grow a clue, get a compass.

Another point of stupidity that blew my mind was how the news was going on about how great it was that his friends started a website to help find him????!!! Look, do me a favor, if I ever get lost in the wilderness odds are good that starting a website is not going to do me any good. WTF!!!

Now the media is going on about an autopsy to learn how he died???!!! WTF??? It might have something to do with exposure, this is freaking lame and possibly exploitive. Granted I can understand the legal need for an autopsy but this is a technicality.

What I would really like to see, and haven't yet, are some stories advising people what to do is confronted with a similar situation. Like how to eat bark or use snow for water or pitch a goddam tent.

Re: WTF!!!!

[scendan.livejournal.com]

They basically turned the wrong way (I do that all the time) and by the time they realized they were lost, they consulted their map (they had one) and tried to take what seemed like a more direct route (really their only big mistake, as far as I can tell, and the one that led to everything else), not realizing it wasn't plowed in the winter. They had enough gas to get where they thought they were going, but ended up stranded. They kept the car on until the gas ran out, trying to keep warm, when they realized (as far as I understand it) that none of their efforts were going to get that car moving again. And why would they have a compass in their car heading home on what they'd thought would be well-travelled roads after spending Thanksgiving holiday? I don't have a compass in my car, that's for certain. I don't even have flares.

So, yes, some bad decisions were made, perhaps. But I don't know if I'd've done any better. Easy to look in from the outside and say, "WTF!"

Re: WTF!!!!

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

Actually thanks for clarifying, thats all stuff that I had not heard before - I iron while watching news, sometimes I miss things. I stand corrected.

Though I got lost one night a block from my house and ended up driving miles from my home. OMG, I was ready to resort to cannibalism and I was parked in front of a Burger King.

Re: WTF!!!!

[scendan.livejournal.com]

Considering some of the Whoppers I've had at Burger King, cannibalism might've been the more (pardon the pun) viable option.

Re: WTF!!!!

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

But did you get the right size shake?

Re: WTF!!!!

[scendan.livejournal.com]

LOL! That was such a bummer. But you so kindly offered me some of yours. :)

Does that mean that your milkshake, it's better than mine?

Re: WTF!!!!

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

My Milkshake brings the boys to the yard!

Re: WTF!!!!

[scendan.livejournal.com]

*does a bump and grind*

Re: WTF!!!!

[cinchntouch.livejournal.com]

AWWWWW You hot sexy beast
Grwllllllllllll

[unseelie23.livejournal.com]

I, mostly, agree with you. However, burning *your spare tire* isn't a bad idea. You wouldn't burn it to stay warm though, you'd burn it for a signal fire. Rubber smoke is blacker and much easier to see.

[scendan.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, he did layer his clothing, try to leave a trail, and did some other things that were pretty smart. It's easy to look from the outside and say he did dumb things, but on the other hand, we weren't there. Apparently the tires DID burn and provide some warmth, after all. And while in retrospect staying put might have saved his life, nobody had any way of knowing that. Their food had run out and the mother was keeping the children alive by nursing both of them. If she was not lactating, the children might have died as well. I can see believing that striking out and trying to find help was the only alternative by that point.

Additionally, did they even HAVE flares? Yes, they should have. But I don't. Were I stuck in the snow like that, I'd not have had flares to take with me.

[scendan.livejournal.com]

And yeah, my understanding was they were also burning tires for the smoke, attempting to signal rescuers. Seems smart to me, if the car wasn't going anywhere anyway.

[howeird]

The reports I saw said they burned the tires to keep warm, after the gas ran out (they kept the car running for warmth - also not a brilliant idea, what with carbon monoxide).

I've been there a couple of times, is why I'm so rude about all this. I've gotten stuck in the snow on logging roads in WA and OR and had my transmission die during a blizzard when I was en route to cover a house fire for a newspaper I was working for in the Cascades. This was before cell phones. I always carried a sleeping bag, a couple of road flares and local maps. And knowing that a car cigarette lighter will work off a very low battery without having to turn on the ignition helped me out of one jam.

I'm not McGuyver or any kind of Great Outdoorsman, but I'm still here.

[edith-mf.livejournal.com]

This doesn't happen all the time, so they had to be ignoring warnings that others heed. I'd say they must have been foolish.

Probably the type of foolishness that comes from having too much pride, or curiosity, to retrace one's steps once things start going horribly pear-shaped.

[howeird]

Yeah, heading back would have been a good idea.