THE POLAR BEAR EXPRESS

 By Greg Evans

I heard an interesting yet disturbing story that took place not so long ago in the northern reaches of Alaska. It was told to me by an automation engineer for one of the smaller oil companies near the arctic circle. For those who live and work at these oil fields there are many protocol that must be followed without fail ranging from smoking a cigarette to taking a stroll. As one would imagine Alaska is a feral uninhibited land of wild beasts, extreme elements, nomadic eskimos, outlaws, and life can be rough and brutal. One of the rules that oil workers must adhere to when exiting the grounds of the base camp is that they enter a fenced in area outside the main doors and must look around vigilantly for any sign of danger. The danger being, polar bears, moose, wolves and any other hostile creature. So one early evening a worker left the secure area and before he knew what was happening he was attacked by a large furious polar bear unprovoked. As the worker was being mauled to death he somehow was able to get his gun positioned and shot and killed the polar bear. Not long after the incident, the worker was located, identified as being the shooter of the polar bear, arrested, put on trial and subsequently convicted and is now serving a prison sentence. The prosecution's argument was that the worker didn't follow the proper protocol when being confronted by a polar bear. The correct action is first to yell in the direction of the hostile bear in an attempt to frighten them away. If that doesn't work you must load a noise cartridge and fire it in the hopes that it too may scare away the bear. If all fails only then are you allowed to shoot to kill. So even though you are being mauled, you can't defend yourself without first attempting to scare it. The whole thing is asinine and in my opinion is analogous with the changing of the times. Nowadays everywhere you turn are restrictions. They are suffocating and in my opinion 85% of them are terribly pointless and defending yourself against a wild animal attacking you should be the first priority. Where does the forcing restrictions down the throats of the populous end? Does it end or does it continue at the raging pace until finally everything implodes?