Re2: [at-l] Father Cited For Feeding Bear

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

At 02:15 AM 7/14/01 +0800, larry galyen wrote:
>These guys are crazy.  Why would any father want to put thier son in that 
>kind of danger.

Hmmm...true story.
when i was about 8, my Mom took me to see Niagara Falls.
Just upstream from the falls, there are some small islands,
(Three Sister Islands?), and we visited these as well.  Being
a water dog, I kick off shoes and start wading at the edge. I
don't know if they are fenced off now, but they weren't back then.
I was an old salt about water even at eight, and I knew I was
in an eddy and would be OK as long as i stayed out of the
current which was about 20 feet out.  Mother gets the bright
idea that it would be really cool to get a picture of me with
the edge of the world in the background.  She tells me to
go on out a bit....go on.....a little farther.  I'm thigh deep now
and can see the swirling current just a couple yards away.

She is still telling me to go on....I'm right here....it's OK...
just a little further.  She's not "righthere".  She's "overthere" on the
shore and i can see how "close" I am to the falls and how fast
the water is moving.  This may have been the first time I flat out
refused a direct order.  What was she thinking?  Do I have issues
about this re: my mother? <g>.

I've tried to convince myself that this was a test.  She wasn't
really taking a chance with my life for the sake of a good pic.
She was just trying to find out what kind of child she was raising.
Was I independent and sensible enough to withstand the 'dare' temptations
and  dangers that kids face.  I would have felt better if she hadn't
been chanting "Chicken.bluck bluck bluck...chicken..fraidy cat."
Of course mother has always been an odd sort.......