Good post. I think a lot of kevetching in this thread is whistling past the graveyard.
People like to think of reasons why “This could never happen to me!” It makes them feel better.
To think “There but for the Grace of God. go I.” is profoundly unsettling to people who have not considered it.
It is compounded in this sort of case of intense tragedy and horror.
This is the natural world that people lived in for most of existence, where this sort of horror was a risk each and every day. Maybe some Gaia worshipers will be snapped out of their silly romanticism, but I doubt it.
It is profoundly ironic that this happened at a Disney theme park, which has done so much to romanticise nature.
We raised 3 sons and watched them like hawks. We still had close calls. My heart stopped more than once because of those close calls.
One scenario I can imagine myself in:
Movie night at the park. Toddler being a toddler. To keep toddler from ruining the movie for everyone else, take toddler away from group. Maybe take him for a walk along the sandy beach line.
Sign says no swimming. Not swimming but we are getting our feet wet. I am right beside my child. Never in my imagination would I consider the threat to be from the sudden attack of an alligator who would have attacked even if my toddler was not in the water, but on the edge of the water.
I offer it up as an hypothetical "There, but for the Grace of God, go I" example. I do not understand how anyone with children or who have raised children could say with 100% certainty it is somehow the fault of the parents, confident their own children would not meet the same fate because they are "good" parents and do not neglect their children.
There are no guarantees of making it through life without heartbreaking tragedies. As parents, we do the best we can do. We can do everything "right, " but the hard reality is there are no guarantees our children will make it until tomorrow. There are no guarantees we we make it until tomorrow.
Excellent point on the irony