Kobe Bryant 1978-2020

[xisxisxis]

They got special clearance to fly, which is a shame and lends itself to get-there-itis. The fog doesn't care who's on the plane. If you need special clearance for weather you should probably just wait.

 

If nothing else it should serve as a sobering reminder to all of us.

 

Whether it be flying in bad weather, rushing to get to work in time, trying to reply to that text while driving, taking an unnecessary risk at work, driving drunk...

 

It's never worth your life. Ever. Just wait.

I think it's more basic than that. His choice to fly was due to his desire to not miss out on his children's lives because he missed a school play while sitting in LA traffic one time. He decided to take helicopters as a way to reduce his travel time. Sounds great, except you now are 30-90 TIMES more likely to have an accident/fatality (even higher as the "accidents" that occur during a clogged freeway are much less likely to lead to death because of reduced MPH). He added a significant amount of risk and thought nothing of continuing that lifestyle (he no longer has to attend practice ~100 times a year and probably the easiest drive in LA is on a Sunday morning). Unfortunately so many people ignore the downside of their decisions because the "event" that leads to fatality or a severe accident are so rare that it doesn't seem a real risk.

 

He just had a new baby and bad decision on top of a risky decision leads to 2 kids who will basically never know their father. Sad story.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Painting his choice to regularly travel by helicopter as some sort of irresponsible behavior is a quite brash. Super wealthy people fly in helicopters. They're safe, especially a top line aircraft like his, chartered by a premier company. Sitting in traffic 3 hours a day isn't a great use of time when you're worth $700 million. We also have no idea how much of the decision to fly that morning was his, if at all. At least not that I'm aware.

[adambr2]

I'm absolutely not going to criticize him for deciding to travel in a way that enhanced his quality of life. People make decisions that may add risk in a way that enhances their quality of life every day. I'm sure he considered the risks and didn't just up and decide to do it one day without considering the risks. If he felt the time he saved with his family was worth the additional risk I'm not going to say otherwise. That's a personal decision.

 

The pilot in this instance was highly experienced with absolutely no safety red flags whatsoever. Most likely he made a bad decision in the heat of the moment because no matter what precautions you take he was still a human and as such can be prone to making a bad decision.

 

Again, we all make decisions to enhance our quality of life. I work in a manufacturing facility which comes with some dangers. I could easily find a desk job with the same company for less money. But I keep my job and the risks to make more money and get more vacation and enhance my family's quality of life. I don't believe we should avoid all risky decisions and wrap ourselves in bubble wrap and stay home to avoid decisions that enhance our quality of life. I think we should just try to do those things as safely as we possibly can.

 

I understand the risks and I try to consider them in every decision I make and mitigate the risks as much as possible. But that's all I can do. Something could still happen.

[Samurai Bucky]

They got special clearance to fly, which is a shame and lends itself to get-there-itis. The fog doesn't care who's on the plane. If you need special clearance for weather you should probably just wait.

 

If nothing else it should serve as a sobering reminder to all of us.

 

Whether it be flying in bad weather, rushing to get to work in time, trying to reply to that text while driving, taking an unnecessary risk at work, driving drunk...

 

It's never worth your life. Ever. Just wait.

We don't know what was said, or what went into the decision to let them fly. Perhaps a lesson will be learned -- albeit a very, very costly one.

 

I wonder what the discussions were when those damn horseless carriages started getting too close to the horses when they were hitched. As our lives get faster and the world gets "smaller", the lack of patience gets augmented. Life goes fast enough...

[JimH5]

I'm astounded at the cultural impact that Kobe Bryant made. I thought this was just another celebrity death, but he really touched people's lives in a deep and meaningful way. These memorial events have been pretty moving.

 

I'm out of the Kobe demographic, so it's weird to be living all this time, without knowing that he was so important to so many others.