Yesterday I was watching a Dateline story on an O.A.R. Northwest rowing team of four men who were rescued after their boat capsized.

The men were in a row boat… in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Sure, they were trying to set a record, but that doesn’t outweigh how much they didn’t consider.

My first question: Did they really think that they’d be safe on a row boat trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean?

I don’t know if it’s just me, but trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a row boat sounds a bit risky. Did they think everything would go fine and dandy? Maybe, maybe not.

I’m curious to know if it crossed their minds that the ocean is unpredictable let alone that they were traveling in a row boat that offers very little protection.

Information about the team found on Google and the O.A.R. website:

• Adam Kreek, Olympic rower, with no experience on the ocean.
• Jordan Hanssen has raced across the North Atlantic once before.
• Pat Fleming has a lot of experience in the wilderness including rafting, but he has no ocean experience either.
• Lastly, is Markus Pukonen who does have experience with the combination of rowboats and sea.

Watching this story made me wonder… does anyone even take a moment to think things through?

Take the Jackass movies for example. Granted, some of the stunts the guys perform are very entertaining, but these hooligans don’t think about what could actually happen to them before they do their stunts.

Some of the things the guys do in these movies could leave them seriously injured, paralyzed or worse.

I understand they get paid for being… care free. Clearly the cash outweighs the risk of injury.

And we the audience eat it up. Clearly, the entertainment value outweighs our concern for the safety of others.

Fear Factor and Killer Karaoke are two TV shows that also involve stunts, but these stunts are much more minor.

In Fear Factor, contestants are given all sorts of different tasks: most of these tasks are disgusting, scary or somewhat dangerous. There was a stunt where the contestants had to swim with alligators.

If that isn’t dangerous, I don’t know what is. But hey, it’s for money remember? Forget the terrible possibilities. Yolo.

On Killer Karaoke, contestants have to sing a song while being messed with. The goal is to finish the song without being disrupted. The contestants can be electrocuted, attacked by dogs (with protective gear) and so on.

Each round, the distractions get more severe. I just don’t understand how someone wouldn’t take a moment and think to themselves, “Could this be dangerous? Could there be consequences? What if something goes wrong?” Or they do and the cash prize overrides those concerns.

And I have to admit, I’ve done some stupid things in the past.

Last year, my mom got me a truck for my birthday. Even though I was 16, I didn’t have my license.

So, not thinking about what could happen to my friend or I, I took the truck out for a ride while mom wasn’t home.

Keep in mind that I had never driven a truck before, and there were at least four inches of snow on the ground. Anyways, we thought driving in a field with a ton of snow would be fun. We got stuck. Really stuck.

We sat in the truck for at least 20 minutes before a guy passed and told me to use the four-wheel drive and get out of the situation. (Yeah, I didn’t know how to use the four-wheel drive.)

Long story short, mom got home before we did, and I got in HUGE trouble. Because I didn’t take a moment to think before I made a decision, my friend and I got in a bad predicament. And she never found out that we got stuck… until now. Sorry mom, I know that wasn’t the smartest decision.. I love you!

I got off easy. Getting stuck and admitting my guilt to my mom are the least of my worries. I could have hurt myself and someone I love. I could have killed someone.

Life is made of little moments. Maybe it’s something a lot more minor, like fighting with a friend. I will stop, take a moment and think before I say something I’ll regret later.

I’m smarter than these hasty decisions.