[at-l] RE: black bear attack in NY

[shane@theplacewithnoname.com (Shane Steinkamp)]

> Shane, I often agree with you - but my reaction to this post
> is "GET REAL!!"  The average person cannot be a NYPD hero, or
> even remotely be expected to have a wild animal attack plan
> thought out, much less be expected to have the courage to
> implement it!  Assuming the bear was gonna take the offensive,
> hell you could even argue she is a hero for saving 3 out of
> 4!!

Based on your response, I had to go back and see where I was off base.
Sometimes I come across like a Rambo type, "kill 'em all and let God sort
'em out", but that was not my intention.

I didn't mean to infer that people should have tactical readiness plans in
place for every contingency in life - such a thing is certainly not
possible.  In the case of the lady being unable to  take her infant off the
porch at the same time with the other kids, you are right in saying that she
had no expectation of any danger and therefore wouldn't have had a 'plan'
much less even have the thought cross her mind.

I apologize for coming across differently.  I was trying to draw a lesson
from that tragedy to encourage folks to think about such things in advance.
This doesn't have to be a detailed tactical analysis, but just like we use
fire drills, we can educate folks about what to do in certain events.

We used to take large groups of kids to the beach, for instance, and I would
pass out whistles to all the adults and some of the older kids.  The rule
was that if anybody blew a whistle you had to get out of the water and
gather around the whistler.  This system worked wonderfully, and while most
people assumed it was for sharks, it was a lot easier to get all the kids
together and have them reapply their sun-screen every two hours when you
didn't have to chase them all down...

FWIW, I got several positive comments about 'family plans' for various
unexpected emergencies, and I hope that someone does benefit from such an
idea.  While everyone is at it, don't forget to check the batteries in your
smoke alarms and replace your fire extinguishers if they are over 7 years
old.

Shane