Death is a harsh business. I would like to put mine off as long as possible.

There's an important trick to being 'out of your element', and that's being smart enough to recognize it once you're there.

Different people handle it different ways. Some stop and reconsider all the possibilities and their options. Some freeze and their brain shifts into neutral. Some don't seem to recognize real trouble, not only when they enter it, but even when they're well into it. And there are always, the 'nothing will happen to me' folks who have apparently watched too much TV and barely have a nodding acquaintance with reality.

Doug, what do you think when you see a young man racing down a crowded highway at over 100 mph (161 kph)? Do you think he's an idiot, and hope he doesn't kill someone? Are you being harsh, or are you being realistic?

This couple made so many poor decisions that it occurred to me that one/both of them were considering suicide or murder. It wasn't JUST that they went sightseeing in iffy weather, and it wasn't JUST that they did it with no thought to being prepared if something went wrong, and it wasn't JUST that when the road deteriorated that they continued instead of turning back, and it wasn't JUST that he decided to walk away, and it wasn't JUST that he probably headed cross-country. It was a combination of a bunch of bad decisions. If Al C. had not done just ONE of those things, it could have been a happy ending. ONE THING!

If my friends who know me well read in the paper that I had done all those things, they would have all agreed that I had apparently lost my mind!

What's really discouraging is that we all know people who would have done all those same things!

Sue