To boat? Or not to boat?

Over the weekend, there was a tragic boating accident on a river near my city.  A speedboat and pontoon collided, head on, killing four people.  Even worse, the pontoon was carrying a wedding party, with one of the victims being a groomsman. 

Now, I’m not trying to start this post on such a down note, but I did want to describe my reaction to this story.  Of course, most people were probably saddened to hear such terrible news, and some may have even thought to themselves, “can you imagine the happiest day of your life – your wedding day – ending so tragically??”  These are the exact thoughts and emotions that passed through my head, too.  On any normal day, I may have been able to move on shortly after hearing the story.

However, the timing of this accident is what makes this situation unique.  Because this coming weekend, I will be hosting a bachelorette party at my family’s cabin, and yes, we will be boating. 

My brain went into overdrive after hearing the story, and suddenly I started to worry about all sorts of bad things happening…what if I hit another boat?  Will I be able to keep everyone safe?  Will someone get injured while tubing?  What if someone drinks too much and drowns?  Falls into the campfire?  Wanders onto the busy highway?  And so on, and so on…

I know that I am an extremely conservative person when it comes to safety. (Anyone who knows me knows my self-preservation skills are off the charts!  Risk-taker I am not.)  But safety will still be the only thing I will be able to think about this weekend.  And knowing my friends, they will all be able to control themselves – we’re not (typically) sloshes.  Regardless of the amount of times I have reminded myself of these facts, I have still had restless sleep and a giant pit in my stomach ever since hearing about the accident.  My mind fixates on news like that and tries to implant it into my personal life, as if I might also experience the same event.  I try to be rational, and the irrational takes over. 

My mind is telling me, “monitor everyone’s drinks,” “make up an excuse to not take the boat out,” “always know where everyone is,” “heck, cancel the weekend altogether.”  But I can’t, and won’t, because that would ruin all the fun!  I’m going to go, drive the boat SAFELY, have some DRINKS around the CAMPFIRE, and celebrate like I’m supposed to. 

I’ll probably be crazy anxious doing it, but I’m gonna do it. 

courtesy of fishermarina.com