Some Things Just Sort of Seem Self-Evident 

   In Alaska, a man came upon a moose and her calf. The man came to the conclusion that this pair of woodland creatures was in his way, so he kicked the moose. In retaliation the moose stomped on his foot and did considerable damage. Or so we’re told. Now moose being what they are, this man is lucky that he didn’t get dropped kicked into the next county. You’d think that not kicking a moose would be somewhat self-evident. Now it is. 

    If this had happened in Louisiana, where a resident might not be up on approved moose etiquette, we might expect this kind of unenlightened behavior. But in Alaska, where moose are wandering all over the landscape, and warnings about ‘not kicking the moose’ are tacked to every fence post, or so we’re led to believe, you’d expect this guy to know better. Now he does. 

    And then we have the guy who snuck into his ex-girlfriend’s house, and while hiding in her attic, fell through the ceiling. The report tells us that this man had been previously arrested for stealing women’s clothes, and that he had been recently released from the hospital. The exact sequence of events is somewhat hazy. We don’t know why he was in the hospital, but we can guess. We’re not sure if the attic thing was to evade police who were looking for him, or if he just had a thing about attics, or maybe a thing for the ex-girlfriend. Or then again maybe he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. But my point is that the decision to hide in the attic was a poor decision that should have been fairly self-evident. Now it is. 

    And then we have Los Angeles where a young boy, while playing on some wooden planks that covered an access portal to the city’s sewer system, broke through the planks and fell into the sewer, where he spent twelve hours before he could be rescued. It had have been a horrific experience for the young boy, and we’re glad he survived. But a couple points - - this portal to the city sewer was in a park, where this boy’s family, as well as other people, were having an outing. 

   Now if this had been, say, a non-working drinking fountain or something similar, the city would no doubt have had it fenced off along with posted warning signs, and probably a Park Police presence to keep people from trying to use the thing. But for an access portal to a twenty-five foot drop down into the city’s sewer system, they felt that a couple boards across the opening would suffice. You’d think something better would have been self-evident. Now it is.