Uh...I don't really think I need that sign when it comes to 'crossing' over anything connected to the Grand Canyon! I get vertigo just crossing a street (that's a big jump from the curb down) so the mere thought of what Nik Wallenda is, at this very moment, attempting to do has me at a complete and total loss for words.
First of all, we have laws in this country mandating the wearing of seat belts when driving, helmets when riding a bicycle, the installation of safety baby seats in cars, ad infinitum...but it's okay to cross the Grand Canyon on a wire, with no safety net or other safety precautions at all? Sounds nuts to me.
I don't know...is there a certain gene that causes people like the Wallendas, Evel Knievel, and all the maniacs who think breaking bones, risking their lives, walking around active volcanoes or climbing Mount Everest is some kind of grand achievement? Is it for the thrill alone? What's so thrilling about possibly falling into a churning vat of volcanic lava or freezing your ass off so high up, you can't breathe without oxygen? I don't get it.
Even if Mr. Wallenda signed off as to any responsibility should he, heaven forbid, not make it all the way across, WHY would anyone in their right mind even want to do something like this? Of course, the very first reason is fame and fortune. And, in Mr. Wallenda's case, this kind of daredevil behavior has been his family's claim to fame that goes back (I've read) to the 1700s, so I guess he's just keeping family tradition alive.
Unless he winds up at the bottom of the Grand Canyon: SPLAT!
In which case, he might land even further down, at the bottom of Alice's Rabbit Hole, which is exactly what this latest stunt feels like.
"But we're ALL mad here..."
Sure seems that way.
