Why did the man run through the river?
A few of us ran from Bangor to Holywood this week as part of the Dirty Duck Walk in aid of the Clifton Special School. A very worthwhile cause and contributions remain open at the link below.
Half way along Crawfordsburn beach we came to a river. Not a very big river, granted, but a river nonetheless. OK a stream really, however that doesn’t make for such a good story.
The options open to us were: build a bridge – hardly practical given our lack of tools, time and equipment or inclination; get in a boat – although there were no boats; turn round and retrace our steps – not ideal as it would feel like admitting defeat; or try to get through it as best as possible. This last option was clearly going to potentially give us the most personal discomfort.
With what we were looking at, 9 times out of 10 the decision would have been to turn back, to find a way round. However, we were up for a challenge, we weren’t ever going to get that wet, and hey, we could dry. So we looked for the least worst crossing point and we just ran through. A little deeper than it looked, afterwards I didn’t think my feet were that wet, so judged the decision to be the right one.
Decision making 101: review alternatives; consider risks/benefits; select best option; go for it; evaluate.
So to answer the question posed at the start, the man ran through the river to get to the other side.
