Big Black Bear
I met a big, really big, black bear in the woods the other day. I was walking along a path, came around the corner and there he was right in the middle of the path. As I was busy trying not to crap my pants, I did not think this would be a great time for a selfie so I backed away slowly. This picture is of an equally scary bear.
When I got back around the corner, I turned and started walking away quickly. I sure wished I had read one of those “what to do when you encounter a bear” pamphlets that were at the entrance to the park. I know that it’s not all that interesting that I encountered a bear and lived to tell about it but, what was interesting was the reactions of the people that I had warned on the way back.
Go For It
There were two young ladies that were jogging toward where I had encountered the bear so I stopped them and warned them that there was a big, really BIG, black bear about 1 kilometer ahead. They thanked me for the warning and assured me that they would be alright as they were armed with a whistle. A whistle? I pointed out that it wasn’t Yogi Bear up ahead but a big and I mean really BIG black bear. They were quite confident so I guess they had read the pamphlet. I wished them luck.
I am no expert but I am reasonably sure that the recommended course of action when encountering a really big black bear, is not to run towards it blowing a whistle. That would seem to be a last resort kind of thing. Of course, I did not read the pamphlet, so what do I know.
Avoid It
The second jogger that I warned had a different view. After I told him that the young ladies before him were confident in their whistle strategy, he replied with “well, I’m not that guy”. He turned and jogged back in the direction he had come.
I thought to say that he could be confident that the bear would no longer be very hungry if he had a whistle, but he was already out earshot.
Two Solutions
I found myself thinking, isn’t it like life. There seems to be always more than one way to achieve a goal. In this case both parties got to enjoy their jogging . One ran, poorly equipped, toward an unpredictable danger. The other assessed the danger and adjusted their plans to avoid it.
I think the second option is the better way to go but, that’s just my opinion.