*I remember my first trip to Maui a few years ago. I had a 30-hour layover before my return trip to Dallas, plenty of time for a mini-vacation.
One of my fellow flight crew members who had been assigned the Maui layovers that entire month and already had scoped out good restaurants and fun activities asked me to tag along for a day of stand up paddle boarding and swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
Being the avid swimmer that I am, I agreed! But before we were scheduled to meet in the hotel lobby to get the adventure started my crew member called me on the telephone. The conversation went something like this:
“I’ve been doing some research about shark attacks,” he said.
“Okay,” was my response.
“Shark attacks happen in the early morning and at night when there’s hardly anybody else in the water,” he went on to explain. “So we need to make sure when we’re out there, there are plenty of other people around us.”
“Okay! So we’re still meeting at the same time?”
Maybe he didn’t want us to get to the surf/paddleboard rental place before I had last minute reservations that would ruin our plans for a fun afternoon. I got the feeling he might have been through that with other crew members. Or maybe it was because he had never seen a black person so eager to swim in the ocean and he just wanted to make sure I knew that sharks could be in the water. Perhaps the phone call was his disclaimer, just in case of a worst-case scenario. I never asked him why he felt the need to call me that day, because when I decide to surf, scuba dive and paddleboard in the ocean I know there’s a real possibility that I might be the victim of a shark attack. So if it happens – GOD forbid – I won’t be holding anybody responsible for the shark’s behavior or my decision to get in the water. That’s what sharks do. They swim around and search for food. That’s the risk I was willing to take. After all was said and done, we had a great time!
That’s why I was dismayed to learn the parents of 2-year old Lane Graves are suing The Walt Disney Company after an alligator dragged the boy to his death.
News reports said the family was on vacation at a Disney Resort when the boy’s parents allowed him to wade in shallow water. A few days later he was found dead of an apparent drowning.
Nobody wants to see anybody die such a horrible death, let alone an innocent child. But the end result aside, how is this tragedy Disney’s fault? The Graves family said they saw ‘No Swimming’ signs posted. But their attorney said there should have been “Beware of Alligator” signs too?! Really. So somebody has to explicitly tell the parents of a toddler, charged with the boy’s well-being, there are alligators in the water in Florida?! They don’t call Florida gator country for nothing. If little Lane’s parents think Disney should have warned them about the possibility of alligators, I think his parents should have had a closer watch on their child, especially near water and at his age. The fact that a gator was able to snatch the toddler without his parents emerging from the scene bloodied and bowed as a result of them fighting for his life says to me they weren’t close enough at his side. And to use the defense that these out-of-towners are so out of touch with reality that the family was unaware of gators in Florida is an affront to – not just Nebraskans – but everyone who happens to hail from anywhere else but the sunshine state.
News reports, as well as Florida history, have documented that alligators are as plentiful there as orange groves. The creatures have been found in backyard swimming pools and other people populated areas. They’re so many of them it’s not against the law to kill and eat them. It’s common knowledge!
It’s their right to sue Disney for the death of their child, but that doesn’t change the fact that parenthood comes with the challenge of knowing your child’s life could depend on your split second decision-making, especially when he is at his most vulnerable.
Steffanie is a freelance journalist living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. For comments, questions and speaking inquiries email her at [email protected]
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