[at-l] tolerance

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 01:24 PM 6/26/2005 -0400, Carol Donaldson wrote:
>I respectfully disagree with the notion of tolerance.
>
>I refuse to tolerate the actions of hikers who dump their trash in fire rings.
>I refuse to tolerate the actions of people who disrespect other hikers' 
>right to a clean campsite.
>I refuse to tolerate the actions of people who do not provide a dry 
>shelter (without wet doggies -- bring your tarp, I do) when it's pouring rain.
>I refuse to tolerate loud music playing in the middle of the 'woods.'
>I refuse to tolerate loud conversations on the cell/satellite phone.
>I refuse to tolerate the activities of intolerant backpacking/hiking jerks 
>who tear up hostels and motels, who act rudely to wait-staff at 
>restaurants, who act like banshees and who generally give backpackers a 
>bad name.
>
>Tolerance of actions is good only insofar as what you are tolerating is 
>either balanced and devoid of the negative or has some positive merit.
>
>I have signed the pledge to be intolerant of disrespectful actions by 
>backpackers, hikers and campers and to do my best to train those who 
>exhibit such behaviors in the more proper way of enjoying the out of doors 
>so that ALL may ENJOY their forays into said "woods" or "wild-er-ness" or 
>"trails" or "parks" etc etc ad nauseum.
>
>Signed, sealed and delivered:
>Coosa
>Who will tolerate people, but won't necessarily tolerate their activities.

But do you distinguish between 'educating' them and being equally boorish 
in return?

There are always 'newbees' and others who aren't aware of trail etiquette 
or lack the education/experience to be properly equipped or behave 
appropriately. I recall an incident with someone I *used to* hike with and 
*used to* respect. We were near the summit of a mountain (descending) when 
we encountered a group of younger hikers (early 20ish) who had no extra 
clothing, wind breakers, etc. It was cold at the summit but they were 
climbing the lee side of the mountain and unaware (undoubtedly through 
inexperience) of the conditions on the summit. My companion arrogantly lit 
into them about their foolishness for coming unprepared and basically 
turned what could have been a cordial opportunity to enlighten them to the 
dangers of being unprepared into an unnecessarily nasty exchange with him 
calling them fools and them calling him an A--hole.

There is a strong tendency to be unnecessarily confrontational in today's 
political/social climate. I think we all need to step back a bit from our 
self-righteousness and be a tad more understanding and diplomatic than is 
the norm these days. The old saying "you can attract more flies with sugar 
than vinegar" is still true. There is a difference between be assertive and 
being aggressive. You should aim for the former and avoid the latter.