Are people that stupid and/or arrogant today?

[S42N8]

Yes, and yes. I'd like to call it idiocy, but moreso ego. People are so wrapped up in themselves that they lack situational awareness beyond their nose. This week, there are object lessons, some of which go to the Darwinian level.

 

[PeterJ]

A person I knew, flew into Florida when a hurricane was forecast to hit,,, I was surprised there were any flights into Florida at the time. I thought at the time that I saw him on the news, wading through the flood waters carrying a case of beer he probably looted from a 7-11.

 

[326MOD10]

It is sad that there is loss of life in these situations and I won't sit back and cast judgements on why people do what they do.

I just can't lump it all under one umbrella as some can.

There could be any number of reasons that people die in winter storms, see the post above listing some of them. Not all of those are the fault of the person who died, nor can I blame it on a lack of common sense.

In regard to the flights some people were stranded and it had little to do with the weather. Just yesterday a Southwest Airlines employee group came out and said most of their delays were due to old computer equipment and the failure to plan for proper coverage. Not sure that is the customers fault.

Nor am I sure that 3 or 6 months ago when I bought my ticket to go home for Christmas that I would know the weather.

I have a flight coming up next week and if it should snow and I get delayed I just want you to know I am not an idiot, as you suggest, but I bought my ticket 4 months ago.

Lastly who wouldn't want to surprise their children at Christmas with a trip to Disney. To me that is pretty cool.

Again sorry for the loss of life to those that have suffered a loss.

 

[mckenney99]

"Are people that stupid and/or arrogant today?"

YES

 

[Narragansett]

I like the asteroid comment, nice touch

 

[cmj8591]

I would love to answer that question, but I just came back from a 3-day ban...

Just three? You're a light weight!

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

"Are people that stupid and/or arrogant today?"

YES

When has it ever been different?

John

 

[fiasconva]

Guess I don't need to quote Ron White do I?

 

[Pisgah]

People have been taught that mankind can control the weather. Naturally, they assume someone will...

 

[pawngal]

I'm flying out of Minneapolis on Thursday, bought my ticket 2 months ago. Not on Southwest, thankfully.

 

[riverrat38]

I don't need no stinkin emergency equipment, I got my cell phone. Help is only a button push away."

73,
Rick

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I raised 4 children to adulthood and many of you here have also. The schools tried to render their brains to useless mush! It was and is hard work to counter that, but that was my wife's and my responsibility to insure the next generation would be able to survive the "Lemming Effect!" They have survived to reproduce; it is now their responsibility! We can advise, but it is strictly their job now. How a person is raised will reflect in their adult life. If their education, church, and family never taught them to think, why would they think?

So, we few sages of the nation, what is our strategy to return common sense to the masses? I think we need to plan on a 40-to-60-year campaign, as it took at least that long to get here!

Ivan

 

[zeke]

Perhaps it's getting easier to tell those who get their news from headlines on a hand held device, without taking in the context and actual radar maps or reading a whole page of text.

Perhaps they heard "leave now" from what is supposed to be a trusted source 2 days before Christmas Eve and actually believed in it.

Edited for before x-mas eve

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Yes, it amazes me-and my computer skills are not what they should be-the number of people who don't understand how easy it to get quick, up to date information on weather so they can plan accordingly. When I worked for the limo company passengers would call us asking if we knew anything about the weather at their destinations. And the number of people who can't understand that weather systems cover hundreds, if not thousands of miles-and can mover very quickly.
The problems with SUVs and their ilk is that people think they are in this big heavy powerful vehicle that can blast its way through anything.

 

[mtgianni]

Too many have a FALSE Belief in a Four Wheel Drive go anywhere ability.

Summary from comments by an Oil Field Drilling Crew Leader and a Wise Old Farmer:
Go IN with TWO WHEEL DRIVE - Use FOUR WHEEL DRIVE to get OUT.

Four wheel drive just lets you get stuck DEEPER IN THE ****.

Bekeart
.

Dad was fond of saying that. As a kid, I often replied that was what 4 chains were for. 1953 Willy's CJ-2.

 

[mtgianni]

While things are improving, a few folks have died or nearly so when their GPS sent them down roads, closed for the season. They drove past the signage.

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

No matter the season, Mother Nature remains undefeated.

 

[STCM(SW)]

Well this thread has gone on longer then I though it would.......

 

[oldbrownhat]

...For example, the the family that set off from MD to travel into Canada for Xmas. Really? ...

"...Ditjak Ilunga from Gaithersburg, Maryland, told CBS News he was on his way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, with his daughters when their SUV was trapped in Buffalo.After spending hours with the engine running he made the desperate choice to risk the howling storm to reach a nearby shelter.

He carried six-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy clutched their Pomeranian puppy, and followed his footprints in the snow drifts.

"If I stay in this car I'm going to die here with my kids," Mr Ilunga recalled thinking.

He said he cried when the family walked through the shelter doors. "It's something I will never forget in my life," he said...​

New York calls in military police to enforce driving ban in Buffalo

"It's like a Category 3 hurricane with a bunch of snow mixed in," Chief Tim Carney of the Erie County Sheriff's Office told The Buffalo News of the brutal conditions."
​

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Smoke]

Really? When all the news media were screaming about how travel of all kinds was going to get hosed.

The media lies about everything else why would people trust them to be truthful about the weather?