The Idiot Thread

oftenreading said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

PJ_Soul said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Shaking my head. The name has been unreleased, but a young man from my area was left to drown in Kelowna by a bunch of idiots:

https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/kamloops-man-missing-presumed-drowned-okanagan-lake/

Come on guys. Seriously? You didn't notice one of your buddies wasn't back in the boat?

Maybe they were drunk. I know I've left a man behind when I've been wasted a time or two in my life, lol .... luckily none of them died.
Sad story. I don't think them leaving on the boat without the missing guy is the cause of the death though. A big group of dudes fucking around in the water makes it easy to understand how nobody noticed when one of them went under and didn't resurface. If they didn't see him go under, then they obviously wouldn't be waiting for him to come up again. It's not like it was a child. There is no real reason for a adults to be watching other adults like a hawk when they're in the water. I don't think it's fair to blame this on his friends in any way, who I'm sure are devastated. It just sounds like an unfortunate accident. The guy was almost certainly drowned before his friends left without him.

Eight guys is not a big group of guys in my mind to not notice your buddy isn't in the boat. "Hey... where's Dave who was sitting right there this boat trip?"

With very little information released... I'm tending to disagree with your suggestion that he drowned before his friends left him. I am pretty sure the boat stoppage for a quick team dip in the middle of the lake never resulted in a guy drowning. People do not jump into a big lake such as the Okanagan Lake to never pop up again. And typically, when people begin to struggle... they call out or at a minimum flail away. Either of those two items is a call to attention.

With that said... alcohol was involved. Things can go sideways for some drunkards. Whatever scenario reveals itself... I stand by my assertion that these guys are idiots. 

Have you guys seen the movie 'Open Water'? Awesome. 

I haven't read the article so won't comment on it, but I will say that drowning usually isn't what you've described. In fact, there was an interesting article last summer that was featured prominently on one of the news sites (maybe HuffPo??) that was titled something like "drowning doesn't look like drowning", in which they made the point that when people drown they in fact don't call out or flail because they aren't physically capable of doing so. Apparently as one drowns you sit low enough in the water that your mouth and nose are below the surface, so you can't call out. As you bob up slightly, you're entirely focused on struggling to get a breath, so you don't call out. And if you try to bring your arms up you push yourself further underwater, so you don't do that either. 

The bottlm line was, people drown silently and without attracting attention. They pointed out several cases in which adults and children drowned within a few metres  of family and friends and no one noticed. It was kind of scary to read. 

This might be the case for some, but not all. I can believe what you have written here, but at the risk of being wrong, I'm in no way, shape or form prepared to believe that people 'usually' drown discreetly. Firstly, there would have to be some observations made to determine that scenario is the one that more often than not plays out for drowning people. Secondly, if we are talking about people who have no experience being in the water such as an infant, it sounds very reasonable; however, I find it hard to believe anyone with any experience at all swimming and at the first sign of trouble accepts their fate with flailing their arms and legs trying to keep their head above water (like this fit and capable 25 year old man).

We go to Kauai every year and if you didn't know, that island can be deadly for swimming. Every case I have read about there was typified by a weaker swimmer underestimating the currents. A struggle ensued where people noticed and made efforts to retrieve them when possible. The struggles are definitely noticeable.

I will say that in Kamloops, people go into the river and sometimes don't pop back up. The reason for many of these cases is the unseen deadfall lurking underneath the water combined with currents- people are hitting their heads or getting tangled with the deadfall and lose cosciousness.

All that aside, I'm stunned that these fools continued on their way leaving one of their friends behind. There is no defence for doing so. It was carelessness at best. If the young man from Kamloops silently sank to the bottom of the Okanagan Lake after jumping into it and not knowing how to swim... that would be best case scenario. If he was left treading water... eesh.

On the drowning note...

There is a video of some teens mocking a man who is drowning in Florida. It is on liveleaks. I'm not posting it.

They don't render assistance- which might be okay if none are strong swimmers or feel that they aren't up to the task- but they do not call for help, laugh at him and mock him as he weakens and then finally sinks (laughing afterwards).

This is a real sad moment for humanity.

oftenreading said:

Proof that groups of people don't always make sound decisions, even when it's their job to do so. And, incidentally, a little warning in case you are ever in the position to need to go to trial and are wondering if you should opt for a jury trial or not.

http://www.salon.com/2017/07/31/jury-sentences-man-to-137-years-in-jail-for-stealing-tires/

Often...

Maybe you weren't reading so good: those were rich people's tires. RICH people's tires.

So stupid. I mean I'm all for being tough on crime, but this is ridiculous.