by Jack
This story in the Chico ER opens with, “The first week of September will never be the same for Brett Olson’s family and friends.” That’s sure true enough, since his death the law enforcement has taken an aggressive stance against tubing down the river on Labor Day with alcohol and a fair number of tickets have been written. According to the story in the ER, Brett Olsen’s death has been too painful for the family get involved in the alcohol ban, but they expressed gratitude that both the Glenn County Sheriff’s Dept and the Butte County Sheriff’s Dept. has and that participation in the event has shrunk this year from 10,000 to only 3000.
As the ER story goes, “At this time last year, they were scouring Chico and Sacramento River with hundreds of volunteers trying to find the 20-year-old Lafayette man after he went missing during the Labor Day float. After a week of searching, his body was found Sept. 9, downstream of where he had last been seen.”
An autopsy would later reveal that Olsen had three times the legal limit of alcohol, if he been driving, plus he also had cocaine on board. How long Olsen had been a binge drinker and a drug user, we don’t know. Oddly, it’s never come up in any of the news stories. However, he was the first fatality that anyone can recall from the Labor Day revelry on the river.
Maybe I am the only one to think this, but it seems to me this should be more of a wake-up notice for parents than law enforcement or for legislators to pass more restrictive laws. Olsen’s problem was revelers on the river or the absence of a law to guide his judgment. It was the absence of good judgment and a willingness to break the law. Who doesn’t know that cocaine is against the law or that drinking until you’re no longer able to care for your own safety is also illegal?
Some of us might think his death was more the result of failed parental guidance than a lack of laws. I tend to think this may have played a part in this tragedy, but I also believe he had reached the age of accountability where he should be responsible for his own choices. He was an intelligent person and he knew right from wrong and he made a bad judgment call to break the law. (We’ve all been there to some degree at some point in our lives) That’s why I think when a person comes of age to be called an adult then they must assume adult responsibility. The libertarian side of me says, you take the risks – you must accept the consequences. It should not fall on the rest of the community to suffer the consequences of your actions.
I certainly feel for the parents of this young man. There isn’t much in our society these days to discourage substance use and behavior to excess that their son chose. This is a problem even for parents who have given their kids a good home and done their best to guide them once they leave the nest.
Unfortunate as it is there is nothing to be done when people continue to believe that drugs and alcohol are harmless and in almost any circumstance.
I would love it if a new wave of resistance would grip the nation…kids defying their parents by embracing the wisdom in common sense and self preservation. It would be refreshing to see them finding fun in activities alone without the added dangers that too often come back to bite and bite hard.
Even then life is not without risk and never will be.