In 1968, when Andy Warhol famously said: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” he no
doubt had some foresight. YouTube is a
virtual cornucopia of talented, witty, smart, artistic snippets of visual
stimulation and sensory overload. Of
course, amongst those petabytes of data are the sprinklings of idiots
galore. Queue not so much of a role
model Boy Scout leaders in the Utah desert of Goblin Valley State Park.
First off, what rock did these dudes crawl out from under, and
who in their right mind would even remotely let their kids follow in the
footsteps of these fine “role-models”. “Frank
the Tank” would make a better role model.
Okay, so if you have not a clue as to what I am talking about,
let me give you the Cliff’s Notes. About
a week ago now, a Utah based Boy Scout troop was out and about in Goblin Valley
State park in the Utah desert. The
Scouts, well, from what I can tell they were just being Scouts. Their “leaders”…. well, not so much. Apparently, in a futile attempt to re-live
the drunken frat boy days these two clowns decided to topple an ancient
balancing rock formation. And by ancient
I mean ANCIENT, like Jurassic Period ancient.
Of course like every classic moment in idiot history, there was a
supportive peer ready to capture those fifteen minutes for all of mankind to
observe.
Okay, so obviously, it is reprehensible to vandalize any of our
nations National Parks. But what in world would ever make someone think that
catching the moment on a cell phone and posting it to YouTube could possibly be
a good idea! It only gets better. To top of the “Rock Tipping” at some point the
poster decided maybe sharing the video on YouTube wasn’t such a smart idea
after all. C’mon guys, you know there is
no taking it back once it is out there.
So, what we need here is a cover story, how about “the rock was a hazard
and we didn’t want some kids to get hurt”
Sounds reasonable enough. Yeah
right, that rock has been doing that same balancing act for literally only God
knows for how long.
Maybe (and a big maybe at that), I could believe the whole “Fireman
Sam” safety aspect of the whole deal had there not have been a whole lot of yee-haw’s
and high-fives to celebrate destroying an ancient artifact. How about next time there is a “safety issue”
you leave it the hell alone. I’m pretty
sure the Government furlough was over and a Park Ranger was only a phone call
away.
Okay, enough ranting; the million dollar question is what are
the repercussions for such a horrific action?
A fine?, I hope so, but how do you put a price on an ancient rock
formation? Personally, I’m a big fan of
making big rocks into little rocks while wearing an orange government issued
jump suit. Maybe we (the people) could
drop a boulder in “the yard” and let the culprits recreate Mother Nature’s
magic.
A local news anchor made a valid point regarding this incident, she brought up how in such rocky terrain they could have very easily set in motion a chain reaction rock slide. Also, the precarious nature of the rock is in doubt wit the effort it took these guys to tip it. A strong wind sure wan't going to blow it over.
ReplyDeletePeople in such position are acting in a way they would have punished the children in their care for. I am sure if one the scouts had made a mistake in judgement, they would have gave them a lecture on taking responsibility for their actions. Maybe they need to reread the handbook.