Hiking, Idiots, and Gadgets

It’s no big secret that I love gadgets. LOVE THEM! I don’t care if it’s for the kitchen, living room or car, I love ‘em. What may come as a surprise to some is that I also love the outdoors. Camping, hiking, general sightseeing in the best that Mother Earth has to offer. For proof, check out Paria Slot Canyon. See? Fat men can hike! ( Nobody take that idea, I’m going to turn it into a script staring Louie Anderson )

Now it seems that the forces of nature are combining my loves and adding in a dash of good old fashioned human idiocy:  Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble – NYTimes.com. I won’t rehash what the article says, just read it. Just make sure you’ve taken any blood pressure medicine you may need first though.

The great paradox of our National Park system is that it needs tourism to keep afloat, but the very tourists the parks need are in fact, systematically destroying them. From deliberate vandalism to just plain carelessness, humans are destroying our parks faster than the dedicated can fix. And now the parks have to contend with idiots wanting delivery service while hiking. Pathetic.

One final rant, and this goes out to all of us as well as the media. Please do not encourage bad behavior by watching or broadcasting stories of idiots getting what they deserve while in the parks. You want to get a nice close up of a Bison? Go to a zoo. If you climb a fence, camera in hand, and attempt to approach a wild Bison, good riddance. Hold your 5 year old over a fence so they can see the “teddy bear” up close? 10-15 years for child endangerment. Take home a “small” bit of the Petrified Forest and you spend the next year walking around making sure other idiots don’t do the same.

I’ve said this before people, but please, let’s all use a little more common sense, okay? And if you somehow find common sense beyond your current capabilities, find your 15 minutes of fame another way and just stay home.

Gregor

 


Posted on August 22nd, 2010 in Banter by .
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