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Curmudgeons' Corner 6 - Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we diet 🍵

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  • @Dovefromabove helicopters aren't cheap though. That cost alone may persuade them to spend a bit on a map and some boots before they go next time.

    Oh yes @raisingirl ... absolutely agree. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'd send everyone a bill who needs mountain rescue or a lifeboat. 
    Devon.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Hostafan1 said:
    I'd send everyone a bill who needs mountain rescue or a lifeboat. 
    I dunno. People who make their living at sea sometimes may make questionable decisions but on the whole, I don't begrudge them the call out - especially as they also make up the majority of the volunteers on the lifeboats. And on mountains, with the best will in the world and all the right gear, you can get bad luck - a slip, a fall can happen even to people who really know what they're doing.

    If you're up Snowdon in your flip flops, you should pay. If you go surfing in storm force 10 winds, you should pay. 

    There are grey areas between a fishing boat capsized by a freak wave and a drunken teenager on a lilo, I'll admit, and on the whole, I'd probably be inclined to be kind - you don't want people left to drown because they can't afford to pay. But some people really need to get a hefty fine in order to make a point. 
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Those fitting the category of moron should at least be neutered to prevent them passing on their genes. :D  Into that category I would put those rescued from Ben Nevis who were totally unequipped, and the one who decided surfing was a good idea in the past couple of days.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Trouble is they're foreign so will have thought it was a simple hill walk and have had no idea about local weather conditions.  Even Brits do that.   Foreigners look at the height of a British mountain and think it's barely a pimple so no danger.

    Doesn't mean they shouldn't be fined for stupidity and endangering other people's' lives tho.  As for that utter toe rag that thought surfing would be fun, he should, at the very least, be made to spend every weekend for the next 10 years doing community service cleaning lifeboat sheds and loos.  Not the boats tho.  Clearly too stupid for that.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    If you're planning on taking a boat out to see, one would hope you some form of insurance. If you're in a car crash, your insurance is expected to pay if an ambulance is called.
    Devon.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Not so simple with boats and weather and accidents at sea @Hostafan1

    However, as with people tackling mountains in flip flops or trainers and without proper equipment, then yes, that rule of paying for irresponsibility should apply to the weekend boaters who have no idea and take stupid risks.

    As for drivers - what about all those uninsured or under-insured?
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    isn't that's why one has insurance?
    As for uninsured drivers, they're breaking the law and will be punished, no such outcome for those climbing mountains in flip flops or setting out to sea in a "boat " designed for a swimming pool
    Devon.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Accidents can happen, even to the most experienced properly equipped mountaineers, so penalising them would be wrong. It is not possible to get insurance for most mountaineering.
    I have been grateful to mountain rescue twice in my life, and they were happy to assist, and agreed that both occasions i was just unfortunate.
    On one of them, the person I was climbing with died, mainly due to a totally unpredictable change in the weather.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • punkdoc said:
    Accidents can happen, even to the most experienced properly equipped mountaineers, so penalising them would be wrong. It is not possible to get insurance for most mountaineering.
    I have been grateful to mountain rescue twice in my life, and they were happy to assist, and agreed that both occasions i was just unfortunate.
    On one of them, the person I was climbing with died, mainly due to a totally unpredictable change in the weather.
    Sobering thought @punkdoc

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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