Crabby Blogging Lady

I like reading books about shipwrecks. I don’t think it’s morbid (not too much, anyway). Several years ago, I had this obsessive fascination with the Titanic– and this was before James Cameron and Celine Dion, by the way. I just found it AMAZING that people could be SO stupid, realize it halfway, and just stupidly plow through, regardless.

For example, did you know that a book called “Futility” was a book by Morgan Robertson, in 1898? That was FOURTEEN YEARS before the Titanic sailed on her maiden voyage– years before the Titanic was even created and built. Robertson’s book was about a large, British steamship cruiser chugging full steam ahead on her first trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The ship is struck on its starboard side by a huge chunk of ice, and the vessel sinks. Because there are not enough lifeboats on the ship, a large number of people die. And it happened about midnight in the month of April. Oh, the name of the ship in this fiction book? Titan.

I don’t know about you, but that makes my spine quiver wildly.

DIDN’T ANYONE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE THEY SAILED THE TITANIC?!?!

Here’s a chart showing how WEIRD this is:

I’ve given much thought to the tragedy of the Titanic, even enough to draw up a small list of lessons to be learned.

• Always check the local library before embarking on a long journey. Someone, somewhere, may have written about you already.
• NEVER gleefully hop on a ship that everyone is calling “so unsinkable that God Himself couldn’t sink this ship.” Hear the bells and whistles calling, folks.
• Make sure there are enough lifeboats on the vessel, or pack your own inflatable air mattress.
• Do not pose nude for a pencil drawing. (That’s general advice, there)
• Do not stand at the front of the boat with open arms, hollering “I’m the king of the world!” It was stupid then, it’s stupid now.
• Do not– DO NOT– order full steam ahead when a dangerous obstacle course lies before you
• Realize that some people, knowing full well the bad odds, poor planning, and weakness of something, will stupidly continue on and take the risk anyway… and often times these are the people who lead a lot of other people.

Poster from Despair.com.