This one came about after the incident with Sully Sullenberger, the airline pilot who finessed an emergency landing of his distressed plane in the Hudson River. This was back in 2009.
The thing was, once again, women and children were the first ones to be let off the plane and to safety. Then, the men were allowed to go.
I have always wondered about this policy. It is not enshrined in law or anything. If a guy insisted on being part of the first group to go to safety, I don't think he could be arrested for anything. He might be permanently deemed an asshole, but I am unaware of any laws being broken.
I began to ask myself some questions, ones which I feel demanded answers. These are uncomfortable, inconvenient questions, and I posted them in this blog post.
Let me know what you think.
See you tomorrow.
Bevboy
2 comments:
Found this on the web and I thought you might be interested in it, Bev:
“Women and children first,” also known as the Birkenhead Drill, is an historical code of conduct whereby the lives of women and children were to be saved first in a life-threatening situation (typically abandoning ship, when survival resources such as lifeboats were limited). The phrase first appeared in the 1860 novel Harrington: A Story of True Love, by William D. O'Connor, the first documented application of "women and children first" occurred during the 1852 evacuation of the Royal Navy troopship HMS Birkenhead. It is most famously associated with the sinking of Titanic. As a code of conduct, "women and children first" has no basis in maritime law, and according to University of Greenwich disaster evacuation expert Professor Ed Galea, in modern-day evacuations people will usually help the most vulnerable to leave the scene first. It's not necessarily women, but is likely to be the injured, elderly and young children.
Thanks, Ken. As I mentioned, I could get behind a "vulnerable people" first policy, as well as one that would take into account men who are single fathers and would be at danger of making their children orphans. A blanked "women and children first" policy just doesn't make sense.
Bevboy
Post a Comment