Friday, July 22, 2005

Sharks in the Petting Zoo

I was watching a program on The Discovery Channel last night about sharks. It was fascinating. Among the highlights was a two man underwater vehicle descending to two thousand feet in total darkness to search for sharks. They watched a shark attack a fish that was disguised in the ocean floor. It made me wonder why the fish was disguised. Isn't it too dark to see anyway? Later, they showed a man fishing for baby sharks to mark them with a pin to track their growth and travels should they be caught later.

In an interesting part of the show, they interviewed two men who had had close encounters with sharks. But what grabbed my attention was that these men decided to go back scuba diving at night, in search of a shark. They found one and watched him for a while, and then they swam up close to the shark and actually touched it.

It made me wonder why people are so stupid. Had I been the one with a close call, I certainly wouldn't be "trying my luck" again. But some people like to see how close they can get to danger and still survive. Maybe it's the rush of adrenaline that urges them on. Maybe the thrill of the chase is what they enjoy. Maybe it's "living on the edge" that causes them to take such pursuits. In my mind, it is failing to think about the ramifications that leads to such an adventure. In the blink of an eye, that shark could have made mincemeat of those men and no one would have lived to tell about it. Was it really worth that?

I can't help but think that all of us at times do things that we look back and consider stupid. How many times, when questioned about something we do or say do we respond with, "I just wasn't thinking"? Well ... no kidding. So think for a change.

In our life choices, we must ask: Am I really willing to live with the possible outcomes if the desired outcome doesn't happen? The answer may be yes, but it should at least be thought about.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You wrote: "In our life choices, we must ask: Am I really willing to live with the possible outcomes if the desired outcome doesn't happen?"

I wonder if Larry Brown thought about this question at all? Or Flip Saunders, for that matter. Saunders took a bit of risk passing on every job in hopes that Detroit would come calling. But, then again, he had a year to sit and get paid and wait to see what jobs came available this time next year.

Brown, on the other hand, will get some money, and he'll get to have his "dream job" the Knicks, if he wants them. But, he'll have a terrible team and poor leader as a boss. I think he'll be dreaming about the Pistons in a few months.

Larry said...

That whole thing was a mess. Brown swore up and down he wanted to end his coaching career here, and then talked about other coaching jobs being his dream job. You gotta wonder what actually happened behind the scenes.

And I wonder how many people around here and still wanting Thomas back in teh Pistons organization. Remember a few years ago when everyone was upset at Mr. D for not bringing him back? I think Joe Dumars is a much better choice.