It’s all summery and sunny and everyone is outside having fun. Except when people die or are injured.
It happens in a split second. Preparation and common sense, however, can prevent many of the accidents that we read and hear about daily.
So on our “to do” list, let’s resolve to: Be careful out there. Unless you are a superior swimmer, wear a life jacket – no matter how dorky it looks or messes up your tan lines. Realize that the rivers and the Sound may look calm, but can be dangerous. Pools and lakes are calm, but can be equally treacherous. All youngsters, and the younger they start the better, should receive swimming lessons. Years of swimming lessons. Pretend it’s going to be on the WASL.
On the “don’t ever” list, let’s resolve to: Never drink alcohol and attempt to operate dirt bikes, ATVs, golf carts, tractors, bikes, skateboards, scooters, boats, kite boards, floating devices, Jet Skis, or your body in water. In most cases, wear a helmet.
Parents, please have that difficult talk with your children and teens. Acknowledge the peer pressure, but tell them, absolutely under no circumstances should they ever play games with a train. No matter how slow-moving it may appear to be, don’t try to touch the train. Do not try to jump on the train. Just stay away from it. Tell them the uptight adults clutching their hearts and screeching at them to get away from the trains are expressing concern. They don’t want to see kids die.
Dog owners, keep your mean dogs on leashes. Don’t bring your mean dogs to the parks. They have no place there. And don’t bring mean dogs on leashes to the off-leash parks. What is the point? That’s like bringing a gambling addict to a casino and saying “Sit. Stay. No gamble.” Better yet, don’t have a mean dog. Mean dogs are one bite away from another tragic story in the newspaper.
We all need to recognize our role in putting safety first, so everyone really can have fun. Nobody wants to hear a lecture, or be told how to behave, but nobody thinks they are going to go to the beach and die, either. It’s a fact that from sunburns to drownings, it can be dangerous out there. The roads to recreation are paved with more well-known hazards, such as speeding, ailgating, insanity, etc. Let’s slow down and get where we are going. We can only enjoy the great times with family and friends if we are alive.
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