The CS "Darwin Award" thread...

[mjr]

This one:

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...d.php?t=111552

Makes me want to ask the question.

Should we feel bad for the people that do stupid things, and end up injured or dead as a result? I feel worse for their family and friends. I feel bad for the deceased, but not as bad as I do for their family and friends.

In both links:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mai...ead/ar-AAcBc0n

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/04/us/tex...igator-attack/

They died because of their own (stupid) actions and decisions. They both did something stupid and paid the ultimate price for it. Have we all done something stupid? Sure. I know I have. But I never even considered putting fireworks on my head, or getting into the water when a sign says "no swimming".

I mean, isn't part of the whole point of the "Darwin Awards" to point and laugh, in a way?

Both cases are tragic, for sure, and we should (but won't) learn from them.

I'm not saying either of them deserved to die. It's tragic that they did. And I do hope that in the future more people heed "no swimming" signs and are more safe around fireworks.

When you see a sign that basically tells you not to get in the water because there are friggin' ALLIGATORS there, you might want to heed that warning.

And there's a reason people light the fuses on fireworks and then RUN.

[Aragarthiel]

I know that when it comes to signs, last I heard literacy in the US was at 99%, which sounds good until you realize that means there are still ~3 million people who can't read, not including foreigners who don't speak English, let alone read it. I understand that there are many more people who choose to ignore signs, but when they end up dead there's no way for the general public to tell whether they couldn't read it or ignored it completely. So for them, I try not to judge.

[Gravekeeper]

The guy that died from the firework sounds like more of an accident even if he was clowning around. He didn't mean to set it off on his head. He was also one of those awesome guys that plays Gaston at Disney World. So this one sucks, is a tragedy and world is a worse place for it.

That other guy though. The one that said fuck the alligators, jumped in, and got eaten by an alligator? That guy is a fucking dumbass. >.>

[Andara Bledin]

The first guy is a good cautionary tale that you don't clown around with explosives. And, oh yeah, fireworks are explosives.

Also, I'm fairly certain that mortar fireworks are illegal for anyone without a license in the entire US. I know this is the case for Florida (anything that can fly or blow up is illegal for consumers) so even if he didn't mean to do what he did, he was breaking the law just by having that class of firework in the first place.

The second guy, though... He totally knew exactly what he was doing and chose to do exactly what he did. No sympathy. Sympathy for the people who had to deal with the aftermath, but zero for him.

I understand that there are many more people who choose to ignore signs, but when they end up dead there's no way for the general public to tell whether they couldn't read it or ignored it completely. So for them, I try not to judge.

I'm not sure what this whole comment is about.

The guy is quoted as saying "Fuck the alligator" prior to jumping into the bayou after dark. Literacy is utterly not relevant to his case.

[Aragarthiel]

I'm not sure what this whole comment is about.

It was more in response to mjr asking,

Should we feel bad for the people that do stupid things, and end up injured or dead as a result?

It seemed like an "in general" question, so I gave an "in general" answer, that's all, and I didn't want to repeat pretty much the same thing everyone else would be saying (something along the lines of, "They were stupid, it's tragic, possibly illegal, they were stupid").

[Andara Bledin]

It seemed like an "in general" question, so I gave an "in general" answer, that's all, and I didn't want to repeat pretty much the same thing everyone else would be saying (something along the lines of, "They were stupid, it's tragic, possibly illegal, they were stupid").

Ah. Gotcha.

I know that the Darwin Award crew generally don't include people who are not in a position to understand what they're doing, so it struck me odd.

[HYHYBT]

he guy is quoted as saying "Fuck the alligator" prior to jumping into the bayou after dark.

Bestiality is dangerous.

[Hyena Dandy]

It should be noted that there's a vast difference between 'Illiterate' and 'Totally incapable of functioning.' A person who's illiterate can still usually read signs (there's a reason most signs have images, and traffic signs are color-and-shape-coded) they just can't use writing for communication.

[mjr]

The guy that died from the firework sounds like more of an accident even if he was clowning around. He didn't mean to set it off on his head. He was also one of those awesome guys that plays Gaston at Disney World. So this one sucks, is a tragedy and world is a worse place for it.

Yeah, I do have more sympathy for that kid than the alligator guy. And he did seem like he was trying to do good, with the whole Gaston thing.

[mjr]

It should be noted that there's a vast difference between 'Illiterate' and 'Totally incapable of functioning.' A person who's illiterate can still usually read signs (there's a reason most signs have images, and traffic signs are color-and-shape-coded) they just can't use writing for communication.

On the CS thread, I did (jokingly) say that it's possible he mis-read the sign. Most of us know what it means, but there's no punctuation on the sign, so if he read "no swimming alligators", maybe he figured there weren't any.

But still, he was warned.

[Gravekeeper]

Okay, so alligator bait guy's friend, whose name is apparently "Bear" has wrought vengeance upon the creature and slain it.

No, seriously.

[Bloodsoul]

"Remember the 'gator that got your hand? I got it's head!"

[TheHuckster]

The Miller Lite can in his hand just makes the photo. It's something The Onion could write.

[Andara Bledin]

Okay, so alligator bait guy's friend, whose name is apparently "Bear" has wrought vengeance upon the creature and slain it.

Bear isn't his name. He didn't give his name because killing the animal is actually a crime.

At this point, I wonder if the authorities will bother tracking him down to hit him with the fine or if they'll just use the opportunity to get the message out that you don't do this stuff; you leave it to the people whose job it is to take care of this stuff.

[flybye023]

My family is kind of dealing with this right now. At a family reunion last week my dad's cousin went swimming in a lake that was posted "no swimming" and drowned.

I don't know what the sign said specifically but what we do know at this point is that the water was 48F and full of weeds. Search and rescue had a hard time getting him out because he was tangled so badly in the lake weeds. Official cause of death was hypothermia and drowning. Park rangers said he would have lasted only minutes in the water.

My own speculation is that he maybe thought he was the exception. He may not have cared and thought the risk was part of the "fun." He was an outdoorsman and should have known the risks. I just don't know.