The other night we awoke to this tremendously loud roar from outside, sometime around 3:00am.  A helicopter hovered just above our window, close enough to see the numbers clearly printed on its underbelly.  Police lights were bouncing off the walls from various directions.  We couldn’t see what the reason was for all the activity.  The helicopter just hovered there in place for over two hours, then slowly made its way up the river and disappeared.

The next morning, emergency personnel – fire trucks, ambulances, and divers – crowded the harbor directly across from us.  Harbor police and uniformed men in kayaks floated up and down the river, obviously looking for something.  It was a rainy, cold day and all the people that regularly walked around the area were gone except for a straggler or two walking a dog.  It was really quiet except for all the activity from these men.

A policeman explained to us that three young men in their twenties had stolen a small row boat and floated it up the river at around 2:00am.  They had been drinking and were “messing about” as the policeman said.  One of the men fell out of the boat and couldn’t get back in.  His two friends jumped in to help him, capsizing the boat.  One man was washed up to shore further down the river; another clung to another boat until he was rescued.  But, the first man who fell into the river couldn’t get out.  We’re told his friend who washed up to shore saw him wave for help and then he called the police.  But, they didn’t arrive in time.  The emergency crews that morning were actually looking for his body.

Several hours later, we saw everyone on the emergency crews run quickly to one part of the river.  Moments later, they carried him in a body bag up from the water and into a waiting van. It was shocking.  It was sad.  And, it clung to all of us each day as we thought about this poor man’s last moments and how distraught his family must be.  One silly decision had such tragic results.  That someone lost his life as we slept close by, also made no sense.  Wouldn’t the force of that moment wake us all up?  How could we sleep while someone fought so hard for his life?

That afternoon, not two hours after the last emergency truck drove away, a wedding party arrived absolutely unaware of what happened.  Resplendent in fancy dress, the wedding party and children lined up for photographs at the same spot this man’s body was recovered.  They were laughing and hopeful, climbing into a boat that would take them down the river.  Life goes on.

In the evening now, when the water rises and falls with the tide, it has a more somber affect on us.  Less is it about the beauty of the tide washing in and out; more it is about the force of nature and our very small place within it.

There are so many lessons in life we want to teach our children – don’t smoke, don’t drink and drive, don’t use violence….etc.  It would seem inconceivable to have to tell someone…don’t get drunk at one in the morning, steal a boat, and play about on the river.  We cannot cover each and every possible lesson that prepares our children for all the dangers they may face.  So shouldn’t we focus some of our social marketing and social media activities on teaching them that making a smart decision “in that moment” is the best and wisest way to live?  Teach them that to have the confidence that making a good decision won’t lose you any friends.  Be able to walk away from temptation knowing you’re doing the right thing.  Maybe if that young man had asked himself, “Is this smart?” he could have just decided not to do it and would be alive today.  Maybe not.  But, the message for me is clear.  We need to teach our kids to be independent thinkers so that no matter what opportunities face them, they make the right choice.

Here’s link to the story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5955414/Search-teams-recover-mans-body-from-river.html

Just pick a story – Clinton and Monica, Father Cutie (what a fitting name) rolling in the sand with a long-time girlfriend, John Edwards and whoever his alleged paramour is – even Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy and the teen ‘models’ he pays to attend parties.   What do they all have in common?  They live in the unblinking fishbowl of media attention.  They know they’re being watched all the time.  They know that the 24 hour cable news cycle is always hungry, and must be fed. But they still believe themselves to somehow be ‘invisible’ to the feeding frenzy of media scrutiny.  It’s like they think that they have a get out of jail free card, (sometimes literally, reference Larry Craig and his ‘wide stance’).  But, as recent events show, that’s not the case.

Goldfish can be excused for sometimes doing stupid stuff – accidentally flopping out of the bowl, eating their own waste – because they don’t know they’re being watched, but people who have sought a life in the glare of public media – be it politics, celebrity or even religion – cannot be so easily forgiven.

I really hope that Gov. Sanford proves to be telling the truth and he can explain away his weekend trip to Argentina  (the closet I’ve even been to Argentina on a weekend is a Gaucho Burger and a Corona – Mexico being at least in the same hemisphere).  But he should keep in mind that he’s always under the ‘bright lights’ –and that integrity is best defined as “doing the right thing even when nobody is watching.”

This is an interesting moment surely, and powerful, symbolic acknowledgement by the US Government of the significance of these tools in this sort of conflict. Can’t help but think of Radio Free Europe.