30 March 2009
Heroes - The real Mcoy?
When last were you called a hero?
I don't mean that whisper at 3 in the morning that says " You are my hero, you f*cked me in more ways than the previous (4) (16) (79) , men could manage" type.
I am asking if you have been called a "Hero?"
Whether you deserve that or not.
The story:
A friend, let's call him M as he knows who he is but you don't have to, and I planned to spend an afternoon training at a particular spot to climb up some rocks.
As we were very much in the end lot of "New Exciting Young Mountain Climbers" we found the route littered with pittons and other extra mechanical holds. We gave it up as a bad job and packed our gear and retired to the beach for a braai (that is BBQ for you folks in the US).
We had Cabernet Sauvignon (plenty) and "Karoo Lamb Chops".
Now CS can be found around the world, but KLC is so delicious it is reserved for locals.
But I digress.
On our way back to Cape Town we had to stop at a bridge over a small river as the road was blocked by traffic.
We parked and walked towards the bridge.
THE SCENE.
A woman and her 8 year old daughter had walked up a river estuary from the beach for a picnic and, despite numerous signs warning her of the tides, was now trapped by the tide against a rockface, with her kid.
The only problem was the depth of the water and of course the surges of the tidal flow.
The sea was calm, but by the time a rescue craft would arrive from the nearest NSRI station they would be floaters.
The NON hero PRE action
The silly woman was almost bombarded to death by people throwing floatation devices at her.
I asked the very flustered, stressed out, off duty cop, who appeared to be in charge to ask them to stop.
In the meanwhile M has gone back to the car to fetch our rock climbing kit.
The NON hero action
We tied the main rope to the bridge and M slid down first.
He calmed Ms Trapped and I followed and collected the kid.
It was no more than 4 meters and we did it with standard rock climbing gear and "Cabernet Sauvignon"
End of story.
We were hailed as heroes by the local newspaper, WTF.
All Hail to "CS"
Comments:
Calm decisive action and a little CS.
Great story!
Great story!
HEAH HEAH!
# posted by KeesKennis @
3/30/2009 08:04:00 PM
