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Sep. 5th, 2006 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ruIt's a little late, but I guess I wanted to reflect on things, or something to that effect.
I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance if this gets rambly or hard to follow. It all makes sense in my head! Honest!
So, I've been listening to/reading/seeing all the things on Steve Irwin's life and death, and it's had me thinking about stuff. I was never much of an avid follower of his shows, or even a casual follower. I caught episodes here and there, but not much more than that. I do remember catching it the first time, and thinking something along the lines of "Who the hell is THIS crazy monkey?". It was amusing and interesting to watch on occasion, but that was about all for me.
However, listening to everything that's been going on since his death, hearing and reading people's reactions, I'm realizing how much of an impact he made. I've never gotten the sense that he was anything but passionate for his work, and I've realized how valuable he was to spreading conservation awareness. He seemed to me to be an incredibly good-natured, enthusiastic person, who not only reveled in what he did, but had the good humor to sometimes involve himself in a little self-mockery (the best example that springs to mind is what I believe was that FedEx commercial he starred in several years back).
When I first heard about his death, I didn't quite believe it, particularly that he had been killed by a stingray, of all things. It felt almost like a prank. From what I had read in the past, stingrays were not that dangerous, and frequently seemed to have a somewhat docile personality. It wasn't until I heard the details that it really started to sink in. After wrangling with crocodiles and poisonous snakes for years, he gets killed by a stingray. What amazes me is how much of a freak accident it was. If even one thing had been different, either he was farther away, or the stingray struck a little to the side, or something to that effect, then he'd probably still be alive. It kinda makes me wonder about whether or not there's someone up there with some sort of remote, ready to push the 'stop' button for us at any time. Something I'm afraid of happening, though, is that suddenly stingrays will be elevated to the 'scary' level that sharks are, and that people are suddenly going to start going out on stingray hunts, like what happened after "Jaws" was released. I don't think Steve would want that.
I think a lot of people were expecting he would die via a croc to the jugular or something similarly dangerous. But when I think about it, somehow I don't see that happening. He had been working around dangerous creatures for years, and seemed to always be aware of the danger, no matter how many times he jumped on crocodile backs or seemed to be reckless, or whatnot. I think he knew what he was doing, and it just happens that in this instance, things coalesced in such a way that it ended in tragedy. It amazes me how someone can be in complete control of a situation, and fate, or random chance, or whatever, can still cause things to blow up in one's face.
I wonder if that's part of the reason why his death is reverberating with people. On a deeper level, his death reinforces the fact that none of us are invincible. He's been seen wrangling crocodiles that could take his face off for him, and snakes that could kill him in one bite, and while occasionally he's been bitten or otherwise injured, he always seemed to bounce back. But not this time.
But in any case, no matter how you look at it, it's a sad thing to have happen. My heart goes out to his family, and it really saddens me how his children will have to grow up without him. At least he went out doing what he loved, and I hope that he's happy wherever he is. With him gone, the world has become a little less interesting.
Rest in peace, Steve.
I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance if this gets rambly or hard to follow. It all makes sense in my head! Honest!
So, I've been listening to/reading/seeing all the things on Steve Irwin's life and death, and it's had me thinking about stuff. I was never much of an avid follower of his shows, or even a casual follower. I caught episodes here and there, but not much more than that. I do remember catching it the first time, and thinking something along the lines of "Who the hell is THIS crazy monkey?". It was amusing and interesting to watch on occasion, but that was about all for me.
However, listening to everything that's been going on since his death, hearing and reading people's reactions, I'm realizing how much of an impact he made. I've never gotten the sense that he was anything but passionate for his work, and I've realized how valuable he was to spreading conservation awareness. He seemed to me to be an incredibly good-natured, enthusiastic person, who not only reveled in what he did, but had the good humor to sometimes involve himself in a little self-mockery (the best example that springs to mind is what I believe was that FedEx commercial he starred in several years back).
When I first heard about his death, I didn't quite believe it, particularly that he had been killed by a stingray, of all things. It felt almost like a prank. From what I had read in the past, stingrays were not that dangerous, and frequently seemed to have a somewhat docile personality. It wasn't until I heard the details that it really started to sink in. After wrangling with crocodiles and poisonous snakes for years, he gets killed by a stingray. What amazes me is how much of a freak accident it was. If even one thing had been different, either he was farther away, or the stingray struck a little to the side, or something to that effect, then he'd probably still be alive. It kinda makes me wonder about whether or not there's someone up there with some sort of remote, ready to push the 'stop' button for us at any time. Something I'm afraid of happening, though, is that suddenly stingrays will be elevated to the 'scary' level that sharks are, and that people are suddenly going to start going out on stingray hunts, like what happened after "Jaws" was released. I don't think Steve would want that.
I think a lot of people were expecting he would die via a croc to the jugular or something similarly dangerous. But when I think about it, somehow I don't see that happening. He had been working around dangerous creatures for years, and seemed to always be aware of the danger, no matter how many times he jumped on crocodile backs or seemed to be reckless, or whatnot. I think he knew what he was doing, and it just happens that in this instance, things coalesced in such a way that it ended in tragedy. It amazes me how someone can be in complete control of a situation, and fate, or random chance, or whatever, can still cause things to blow up in one's face.
I wonder if that's part of the reason why his death is reverberating with people. On a deeper level, his death reinforces the fact that none of us are invincible. He's been seen wrangling crocodiles that could take his face off for him, and snakes that could kill him in one bite, and while occasionally he's been bitten or otherwise injured, he always seemed to bounce back. But not this time.
But in any case, no matter how you look at it, it's a sad thing to have happen. My heart goes out to his family, and it really saddens me how his children will have to grow up without him. At least he went out doing what he loved, and I hope that he's happy wherever he is. With him gone, the world has become a little less interesting.
Rest in peace, Steve.
Hi Peppermintberry
Date: 2006-09-07 06:18 pm (UTC)My mood-Hungry
Thanks
Joe. Nelson
USDA APHIS Animal Care
Eastern Regional Office
Raleigh NC