The hero and the fool.

There is a particular thing in America that annoys the hell out of me. In some cases it is justified. In most cases, it isn't. You see a report of this kind of incident every week, sometimes every day. It is almost always praised, even when it should be condemned. What is it? People who save the lives of others who have foolishly put themselves in danger. The heroic man or woman, boy or girl, who dives in to save a drowning adult who has ignored swimming warnings, and dies doing so while the person requiring aid lives. So, in most cases, a heroic, valuable person dies and a careless, thoughtless person survives. But it's not just drownings. It's the idiots who go hiking, heedless of the weather and require a search party to find and save them. The inexperienced boaters who ignore storm warnings and capsize at sea, requiring others to rescue them at the risk of their own lives. It's the morons on the too-loud  snowmobiles who create avalanches and need to be located and dug out. People will always be stupid. But it galls me when those who are are careful have to rescue the idiots who aren't, and often die doing so.  I don't include in this tirade firemen and other heroic service people who have committed themselves to rescuing people from true accidents and natural disasters. No, I'm talking about the idiots that put others in life-threatening situations because they were too stupid or egotistical to consider the risks