Can I ask a question in here that just might be a little insensitive?
Am I supposed to feel sorry for all the people that are dying on Mt. Everest? Because I'll be honest. I feel about as much sorrow for them as I do the guy who died kissing a rattlesnake. I'm sorry if that makes me a giant assssshat, but that's just the way I feel.
same. and I don't feel bad for the parkour guys who die falling off buildings. not going to go-fund-them for hospital bills or whatnot.
The point to me is that climbing Everest or any of those others are inherently life-threatening in a luxurious non-necessary way. They're not fire-fighters, soldiers or cops in bad situations paying the ultimate price, they're thrill seekers. When people actually do die doing it..
I don't feel sorry for them. Yes. Look at me....I'm a monster.
i fall into this camp, as well - any "luxuriant" risk of life falls flat for me. dunno, i was surrounded by a ton of misery and untimely deaths when growing up, mostly drug/alcohol related. so many people succumbed from our 'hood, great majority under the age of 21(4 family members included up in that). makes a person value the life they were given, and to be witness to such senseless and heartbreaking loss at an impressionable age turns one sour on thrill seeking sorts - suffice to say that it took awhile for me to fully grasp this concept - i was a notorious drunk driver for a good 3/4 years backnaday (my brand of thrillseeking? sure. give it a name) ... and i paid the price with 4 arrests, some lengthy mandatory incarceration, loss of license for 12+ years, and upwards to $20k in fines and surcharges. B-O-O, H-O-O!!!! for me.
i deserved every last ####### punishment hurled at me ... of course, at the time, i was furious, 'cuz, ya know, my hot rod was impounded for well over a year (mandatory fines needed to be settled, and every day in the pound accrued more vig from those mofos).
but ya know what i took away the most from all of that? the fact that i was the luckiest mutha ###### on the face of the earth because, not only did i survive all those days driving whilst ossified, but ... BECAUSE BY THE GRACE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY I NEVER HURT AN INNOCENT BYSTANDER- NO COLLATERAL DAMAGE.
not to say it makes one go through life like a pvssy, far from it ... it makes one immune to throwing ##### to give at folks who poke the bear of mortality unnecessarily.
... which segues into another facet of this convo - those who venture out to live amongst the wildlife - most notably that guy who was mauled to death by the grizzlies in Alaska - saw the doc, and was blown away by how long he actually lasted ... now, i get that this was his passion and reason for waking up in the morning, got it. but, man, the inherent risks of that kinda ticking time bomb are eventually gonna come to fruition ... same with the chimp/gorilla curator, and anyone who bites it thinking they can somehow fudge mother nature. like playing God and ####.
as i alluded to in the Everest thread, when my ex told me of it all i was numb to her excitement and sense of wonder. #### is just not in my wheelhouse, and never will be.
saw a bit from some black comedian (maybe Patrice O'Neal?) weighing in on this, basically stating that it's always white folk doing all this daredevil and wilderness #### - that black folk don't need to seek cheap thrills and danger because every day in the 'hood is enough for them ... now, yeah, that's a bit of a broad brush he painted with - but i get the sentiment, and would allow that it is as much socio-economic as it is based on race. no one i grew up with became an outdoorsman/rock scaler/parkour foo'/sky diver/bungee jumper/free faller/repeller, etc ... just not in our DNA
look, to each their own ... and i begrudge not one humanoid on the planet their right to git their ya-yas out ... but to hear of such senseless consequences stirs very little emotion outta me - and i'd also allow that the whole shebang is a most selfish act, tons of loved ones left behind in the wake of these tragedies. i just don't get it.