Six Words: Navy, Tolerate, Wonder, Jelly, Hypothesize, Minute
A true tale of American survival
Hypothesize for a minute, that you are in charge of a small, rented motor boat with seven passengers on the Intercoastal Waterway near where it meets the Atlantic Ocean in south Florida. Docked just in from the ocean is a very large ship belonging to the US Navy. The ship appears to be an aircraft carrier or something with a flight deck. The ship rises several stories higher than anything nearby.
Looking on in wonder at its size and thrilled to get so close to a ship like this, you approach closer and closer. You and your passengers hear the indistinct sound of a voice through some kind of public address system, possibly coming from the ship several stories above you, but it might as well be speaking through a bowl of jelly, not a word can be understood – at least not by, you, the skipper of your small, rented motor boat with six young children and three other adults aboard. The voice repeats itself, louder, and more urgently. It still cannot be understood, but your passengers all insist that it is warning you to back off, and that approaching any closer will not be tolerated.
What would you do?
Since I’m here sharing this adventure with you, you can tell that I did turn around, and that led almost immediately to another misadventure that maybe I’ll share another day, when we’re challenged with the right six words.