3 December 2013
For the first time, Idiot of the Century has been decided in the first 13 years of the century itself. No chance exists of beating the Hibiscus Coast Boating Club and Auckland Yachting and Boating Association in their opposition to compulsory wearing of lifejackets.
The irony in their comments that lifejackets will not save lives coming less than 48 hours after two lives lost that would have unquestionably been saved had they been wearing appropriate lifejackets, is sad indeed.
I have to wonder whether the buffoons at these boating clubs are first cousins to the insane minority of the National Rifle Association in USA - they exhibit the same one-eyed, libertarian stupidity that humans love to embrace.
As the NRA turns a blind eye to corpses of schoolchildren spread over the schoolyard, so these elitist boatie & yachtie dickheads in their 56-footers can turn a blind eye to the cold corpses of the hundreds of children who have drowned because their parents are too stupid to use common sense and lifejackets.
Older chaps like me will remember this exact debate in the past - on two separate occasions - when motorcycle helmets and seatbelts were made compulsory.
I wrote an extensive article a while back about our appallingly lax safety standards at work, and the attitude we take to recreation is much the same - "she'll be right!"
Well, it won't. We made laws on seatbelts and helmets to force those too stupid to be safe to be as safe as possible, and I trust that Auckland City Council can at least get one thing right with lifejackets.
Lifejackets save lives; that point is inarguable, and the opinions of selfish boatie and [especially] yachtie twats can be discounted entirely. They are blindingly selfish, and would rather gloat over the rotting corpse of a child than be made to wear a lifejacket on their gin palaces.
Copyright © Alan Charman