An interesting question...

[pat]

In the comments to my previous post, soaring_phoenix asks if I think all people in dangerous professions should give up their jobs if they have children.

As has been widely reported, Steve Irwin died yesterday. It turns out he was swimming above the ray, not engaging it, in which case his death really was a very freak accident -- stingray barbs to the chest are rare, and almost always fatal. (The one case I found online was listed as the only known case of a cardiac sting that survived, and that was someone who staggered right onto the beach and was rushed to the hospital.) In which case I was wrong in assuming that he was trying to bother the ray. [Edit: apparently, Irwin was swimming over the ray, with the cameraman in front, and the ray was effectively cornered. Not really smart.]

I thought Irwin was very charismatic. I also came to hate what he did. I remember watching his show once when he picked up a pregnant rattlesnake saying "Go ahead, bite him, he deserves it!" [Edit: No, I don't think he "deserved" to die anymore than anybody else deserves to die. I was just annoyed at the way he was manhandling the snake.] I stopped letting my children watch his show out of concern that it did not foster properly respectful attitudes towards wildlife.

I am the last person to argue that someone who is in a dangerous profession should give that up. People who are cops, firefighters, and who serve in the military have my profound respect, and their families my sympathy: there is always the danger of something bad happening. (I do understand it a bit: brian1789's sister is a firefighter.)

So maybe it wasn't just the "he died doing something dangerous" as "he died doing something dangerous and unnecessary."

Comments

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree with you more.

[dangerpudding.livejournal.com]

I'm having a hard time finding the line between necessary and unnecessary, here.

I often do risky things for my job. We know that. Are those necessary? I don't know, but I believe that they are the right thing to be doing.

I take risks in my personal life, too. Physical ones and emotional ones. I spent two hours on Friday on the back of a motorcycle riding twisty roads. Necessary? Probably not. Fun and worth the risk? To me, yes.

I could question the necessity of that last flight Dad took. I have, actually. But I don't question why he did it, and I wouldn't have told him not to take it if he'd asked. (Well, assuming I didn't have some knowledge about what was going to happen.)

Donno. I think that what happened to Steve Irwin is terribly sad, and I feel awful for his wife and kids. No question there. I've never watched his shows, so I have no idea how he treated the animals. All that I see is that he seemed to be doing what he loved. I have a lot of respect for that.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

You also don't have children. Children change the equation in ways that having partners does not. I do feel sorry for his wife and family.

And yeah, I think about the risks you and brian1789 take for your job and whether it is necessary. I come down on the side of "I can't do anything about it, so it gets me nowhere to complain." But beyond that, if he were to take up the motorcycle, and killed himself, I'd be royally pissed off. Heck, given the way he drives, if he ends up in a bridge abutment, I'm going to be royally pissed off, in addition to being terribly grieved.

[rosefox]

I don't see how your last statement follows from the original question. Certainly, people who do dangerous things are necessary to a functioning society, but how does that relate to the question of whether they have or should have children?

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Maybe the last statement doesn't completely follow -- it should have said something along the lines of "So maybe it wasn't just the 'he died doing something dangerous' as 'he died doing something dangerous and unnecessary,' and his kids are going to suffer by it."

[rosefox]

It's more that you relate Irwin's profession to rescue and emergency workers and members of the military, but don't really make any statement about whether you think they should have children.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Then I'm not being clear. I don't have a problem with military personnel or cops or firefighters having kids.

It may seem that I am inconsistent, that the social utility of the person's occupation should be irrelevant, but that doesn't particularly bother me.