Throw Caution to the wind

I read this a while back and have just remembered it and I thought that it
is blog worthy. Enjoy!

In a couple of weeks I am heading off to Nepal, where I will trek up to
Mount Everest, and I'm starting to get a little concerned about my safety.
You see, I've been told the rest of the world isn't safe, but how can that
be?

For starters, it doesn't have occupational health and safety legislation or
WorkCover and how many Nepalese Sherpas will provide a certificate of
competency in manual handling? I get the impression they will just pick up
my kitbag and carry it, just like that. That's got to be worth a $1000 fine
for non-compliance. What's more, the itinerary of the trek mentions river
crossings and maybe even snow and ice, but there's no mention of approved
handrails, much less an accredited training program to be accomplished
before putting my first step on a bridge.

Surely they don't expect me to just walk across from one side to the other?
Madness. I've been brought up in NSW and I'm told I have to be safe at all
times. It's illegal not to be safe.

Another worry: if I do get as far as Everest, will the advanced Sherpa party
have erected scaffolding around the mountain so I can't fall off it? Will
they have fixed approved anchorage points on all four faces, so that I can
attach my safety harness (that's the harness I keep in my garage at home so
that when I am mowing my back lawn, which has a transverse slope of more
than 4.5 degrees, I can anchor myself to the nearest approved safety point)?

I wonder if undercover inspectors are there now, installing security cameras
over dodgy-looking crevices to monitor the non-compliance of escaped NSW
travellers? If they have been thorough, no doubt there will be signs erected
every 20 metres or so warning me that the water in the rivers is not safe to
drink since an incontinent yak passed, or that if I jump off the bridge into
a raging chasm, I might hurt myself.

I don't think they have too much electricity above the snowline. Probably
just as well. I'll bet none of the Sherpas double as qualified electric
cable testers and taggers.

Perhaps there will be trekkers from other states or countries who have not
yet been admitted to the duty of care fraternity. The Americans will know
all about it - we bought the package from their lawyers, but what about
those developed nations that still allow their citizens to make informed
choices?

This may be hard for the bureaucrats to believe, but some of us don't want
to be suffocated with safety. There are times in my life when I do not want
to feel safe. I do not want to endanger others, but I reserve the right to
take the occasional risk for myself.

I've heard the adrenalin rush of having a Band-Aid applied to my
noncompliant body as a result of this defiance is quite overwhelming, and
I'm quite looking forward to it.