This is one of the best commentary threads I have ever read. It is just bristling with genuine heart felt opinion and personal observation. At one moment I agree with with the pro altruistic group and then I find valid reason in the self interest argument. Its great reading and very interesting.
I have some observations from my long life that fit into neither category that have caused me to reflect much more on the causes of my actions than I first expected.
I ‘ll try to be brief. Many years ago I was an avid bass fisherman and I would find myself looking forward to my weekends on the lake and devising better strategies for the next excursion on the water. One particular spring weekend I was anticipating an early start in a remote heavily wooded area on a nearby lake . I arrived at the boat ramp very early at the crack of dawn with not another fisherman to be seen. It was cold, cloudy with an extremely high wind . I launched my boat and secured everthing . Poured a cup of coffee and began making my way through some dark timber to reach the main lake .I was running at half throttle and keeping an eye out for stumps and stickups as I threaded my way through the half dark. Ahead I could see the boat lane widen out where the main lake began. I reached down to apply more throttle and as the boat gathered speed I distinctly heard a voice cry out “help”. I thought “what was that”? I glanced around quickly in various directions but I didn’t see anything. I reached for the throttle to apply more power but I hesitated.
On a hunch I pulled the power back and turned the boat around, slowing down rapidly. In a moment I heard the voice again “help me please”. I made my way through the trees and there about 50 yards ahead was a man standing in a tiny aluminum skiff clinging to a sapling not much bigger than your thumb. He was shivering and absolutely terrified .
I shouted at him to sit down and not panic . He had no life preserver nor oar or paddle, nothing but a cheap fishing rod . He lunged at my boat as I drew near and I thought, this could become dangerous. I asked if he could understand me and he replied ,”yes”. “Do you have a line or a rope”? I asked him. He held up a length of clothes line . I noticed his accent at once and determined he was an Arab or a similar ethnicity. He tied the line to his bow hook and I swung by and took the line from him and secured it to a stern deck cleat. I asked him where he had come from and he said the south boat ramp where I had pushed off from 15 minutes earlier. His boat was a very shallow pram type not much more than 8″ deep. Certainly not stable enough for a big ,windy lake. He was still clutching the sapling tightly to his chest so I instructed him to lie down in the center of the bottom of the boat. I advanced the throttle and began the slow trek as we wound our way back to the launch ramp. It was “white capping ” quite vigorously so a minimum speed was all I could generate until I made it safely back to land. At this point I became angry at the circumstances and I knew I would lose an hour or more of prime fishing time because this “yeahoo idiot ” was fartin around in a damn dinky tin boat in the dark of the night. By the time we got to the ramp I was barely able to keep my composure. We pulled his skiff onto the shore line and he made a rush for me to try and embrace me . He was jabbering and crying and then I began to realize how serious HIS situation had been. I told him to get a life preserver and not to stray so far from shore in the future .He tried to kneel in front of me and kept acting hysterical so I took him by the arm and told him calmly,”You’re okay now so use better sense in the future”.
I got back in my boat and once more headed back onto the lake. The fishing was lousy and I had a crummy day on the water. Complete blank.
However, I have had a lot of time to reflect on that day and now nearly 25 years later I can compare that experience to 3 or 4 others I found myself involved with and there are some similarities that make me question who is placing us in these situations. My motives were not altrustic or self serving and I was not happy at the imposition which was thrust upon me.
I wonder who is doing the motivating here?
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