Heeding the Warning Signs

On the walls of my office are some "de-motivational" posters I put up just for fun. At first glance they look like those posters that contain inspiring and motivational messages. But these are different -- they're meant to be humorous. One particular poster is titled "Mistakes." You can see it here -- it reflects how I often feel about stupid things I've done in my life. Hence the following story.

I was about seven years old and living in a quiet Sacramento neighborhood. This was the early 1950's when neighborhoods and streets were safe for kids to walk alone to the corner store. In front of the nearby Stop 'n Shop was a raised brick planter box, about two feet tall. I liked to climb on it and walk along the bricks. While walking on it one day I noticed a swarm of red ants. Confident that my new blue Keds could handle the job, I began stomping on the ants. At the same time, I saw a woman approaching, accompanied by a little boy about three or four years of age. She didn't notice that I was stomping on the ants, but her son did, and he wanted to join the fun. Thinking he was simply going to walk along the bricks, she allowed him to climb up. Then he quickly walked right into the red ants -- in his bare feet!

His screams and tears were immediate as he suffered the painful ant bites, and his mother quickly lifted him off the planter and tried to comfort him. What did I do? I guiltily walked away. Why didn't I warn him? I don't know. It wasn't that I wanted him to get hurt -- I was just too shy to say anything. I've regretted that all my life, always knowing I could have saved that boy a lot of grief if I'd only opened my mouth.

As a parent and teacher I've tried to do a better job of opening my mouth when I've seen potential dangers ahead. But parents walk a fine line. Some children are grateful for parental warnings because the parent-child relationship is built on trust, not intimidation. But others seem to be so headstrong and disobedient that, ultimately, they refuse their parents' counsel and will only learn by their own sad experience.

Two incidents come to mind when I think about the importance of trusting in the warning signs around us -- and the counsel of those who know something we don't about what lies ahead. The first is an incident that happened to a friend. He was driving along a highway on a business trip when he came to a point where the road had been barricaded. A large sign indicated that the road ahead was closed for construction, and a large detour sign was diverting the traffic down a different road. 

My friend was on a tight schedule. He knew if he took the detour he would not arrive at his destination on time. Looking ahead as far as he could, he could see no sign of construction equipment on the barricaded highway. So, instead of taking the detour, he drove around the barricades and continued along the original highway.

It was easy going for more than twenty minutes, and he knew he was getting close to his destination. He felt glad he hadn't taken the detour. But then things abruptly changed as he reached a point where the road was torn up and impassable. The highway really was under construction after all. Frustrated that he couldn't progress past this point, and knowing that his bad decision was going to make him very late for his meeting, he turned around and hurriedly drove those many miles back to where the detour began. Approaching the barricade he noticed that someone had spray painted the following message on the back of the detour sign: "Welcome back, stupid."

My friend only lost time and gas that day. Others who choose to ignore warning signs may end up losing much more -- even their lives. On January 5, 1975, the Illawarra, a huge ore-carrying ship, collided with the pylons of the Hobart Bridge in Tasmania. According to the official report, three sections of the bridge immediately collapsed and the freighter sank, killing seven crewmen. And worse, five motorists died as they sailed off the bridge and into the water.

One motorist was reportedly able to stop his car before it went over the edge. Realizing that the drivers of the cars behind him wouldn't likely see the danger before it was too late, he jumped out of his car and instructed his wife to turn the car around and flash the headlights to attract the attention of the oncoming drivers. While she did this, he ran towards those oncoming cars, frantically waving his arms in an effort to get them to stop. A few drivers, apparently saying to themselves, "I wonder what that crazy fellow was doing in the middle of the highway," drove right past him and over the edge. Others, trusting that this fellow knew something they didn't about unseen dangers ahead, were able to stop in time.  

Children: your parents have been around long enough to know that if you make certain choices you are most likely going to suffer sad and often painful consequences. They are like that man who waved his arms at the oncoming traffic. Please trust them.  

And parents, if your children do ignore the warnings and suffer the consequences of poor choices, please don't flash the "Welcome back, stupid!" sign at them. Instead of being surrounded by a  bunch of critics dishing out generous servings of  "I told you so's," what they need now are merciful, open arms welcoming them back. After all, God does.