I’ll
let you hit up Google on your own for this one.
Story
you’re looking for involves a woman in Arizona that decided to
cross a barrier in a zoo to get a picture of a jaguar and… I’m
going to pause for a moment here in a dramatic way just because,
but honestly the reality is you have already guessed what happened…
get a picture of a jaguar and was attacked by the jaguar.
But
I’m not linking to that specific story because this essay is about
more than one incident. The jaguar in Arizona is just one example.
Stupid people do stupid things all the time.
When
I see news like this, the people-in-the-tiger-pit stories (so
to speak), one of my first thoughts is about the barriers in place.
Was there something that said “don’t go here” and perhaps even
a bit more? Was there something making an attempt at preventing
a person from going there?
After
all, it’s one thing to know what you are about to do is a bad
idea. But as I have said (and heard said) so many times over the
years: Common sense ain’t that common. What makes it a slightly
different level of stupid thing is being told what you are about
to do is a bad idea.
Signs
are a good start. Locked doors can be anywhere. Railings, open
pits, walls, water features are there in zoos. Hold on… just for
a second… zoos…
Zoos…
yeah, those present interesting problems.
When
people are going to jump in for pictures of jaguars and hugs from
gorillas and kisses with tigers and whatever, the zoo has a funny
little hurdle on their end of the process. Zoos need to be safe
for the animals. Safe for the people. And yet, safety on both
sides, zoos have to create displays that allow the people to see
the animals.
We
don’t go to zoos to see really tall walls with a sign on them
that explains there are cheetahs on the other side. No, we want
to see the cheetahs.
And
line of sight tends to create an amazing opportunity for stupid
to enter the equation.
Are
you one of those people that wants the perfect picture at the
Grand Canyon? You know the shot. You have zero intentions of getting
too close to the drop, but you just know in your heart it will
be ok to slide past this wooden fence, turn around, and smile
for the camera.
Not
just Google. Pick any search engine and you can find plenty of
stories about people climbing in to the animal enclosures… and,
plenty of stories about people slipping off the edge of a cliff.
(And almost as many as the number of stories you’ll find about
people driving thousands of miles to a bakery to see the baby
Jesus in the frosting on a brownie. But that’s quite another scenario,
with a different type of stupid.)
The
other day—though certainly several steps below people-in-the-tiger-pit
level—I made one of those great safety moves. We have a clock
in the garage. Time to adjust it by an hour. It’s about ten to
twelve feet up in the air. Way to get to it is by ladder, but
there’s a workbench kind of in the way a classic ladder could
be used. The easiest way to get to it is to use a stepladder to
get onto the workbench, then set up a smaller stepladder on the
surface of the workbench, then… well, you see where this is going.
I
do stupid things all the time.
I
climb ladders outside in the winter, because ice and snow has
collected on the satellite dish and disrupted the signal. I check
the electrical outlets without turning the power off. But…
The
workbench is actually huge, and roughly equates to placing a stepladder
on a large deck more than putting one a table. I wear sensible
shoes. I take my time. I don’t begin working on the electrical
outlet without turning the power off. And I don’t go around fences
or jump over water to take a selfie with a jaguar.
I
love gorillas and tigers. I also enjoy having my arms attached.
Douglas
Adams, as I recall, had a quote attributed to him that went something
like this (I’m close, though the words may be off so I’m not quoting,
and you shouldn’t say I did): People that believe they have made
something completely foolproof have underestimated complete fools.
Climbing
a few rungs on a ladder to a staggering height of five or six
feet while holding a broom to sweep snow off a satellite dish?
We’re not in complete fool territory.
But
the world is a place that contains complete fools. And they’ll
find a way to the jaguar, even if we lock the doors.