"Madame, bear in mind That princes govern all things--save the wind." -Victor Hugo, The Infanta's Rose

Friday, March 16, 2007

The dangers of alcohol

Foreword: this weekend is St. Patrick's day, a holiday celebrated by Irish and Non-Irish alike with the traditional drinkin' o'the beer. For the benefit of those who might overindulge this weekend, here's a cautionary tale in the form of a news item from the Wind In The Wire "what were they thinking?" department:

A flying leap from a Bahamas-bound vessel into the Atlantic Ocean resulted in a collapsed lung and hypothermia for a 35-year-old Orlando man. Michael Mankamyer was spotted taking a running leap off the Carnival cruise ship, "Glory" by a fellow passenger shortly before 1 a.m. Friday. The witness added that he (Mankamyer) was quite intoxicated.

The Glory and another cruise ship that was in the area at the time joined the Coast Guard cutter "Vigorous" and two helicopters in searching the water for the man. After cooperating with the Coast Guard, the cruise ship resumed its journey about 4 AM. The cutter continued searching, and found Mankamyer around 8:45 AM. Officials say he had drifted 15 miles north during his eight hours at sea, somehow managing to remain afloat.

About 3,400 passengers and crew were aboard the ship, including at least one traveling companion of Mankamyer. It was on a seven-day trip from Florida to the Bahamas that began last Saturday. Following his rescue, Mankamyer refused to speak with reporters.

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The fact that this story involves alcohol does not surprise me. What does surprise me is that Mankamyer was not a college student on spring break.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


(Story/photo credit: Miami Herald)

3 Comments:

  • At 3/17/2007 10:05:00 AM, Blogger Sphincter said…

    A college student from Massachusetts on spring break would have seemed more typical to me!

     
  • At 3/20/2007 07:48:00 AM, Blogger jbwritergirl said…

    Hopefully he drank enough not to remember any of his actions.

     
  • At 3/21/2007 10:02:00 PM, Blogger Janelle said…

    Mr Toast my computer crashed and I lost your email address. Could you kindly send me a message so that I can return a message with the pic I would like on my site? I would kindly appreciate it!!

     

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