Who's to blame?

          A few days, weeks, maybe even months away from their state, many tourists come to our Hawaiian Islands to vacation, go sight seeing, and even travel around the islands in hopes of finding the answer as to why people call our islands 'paradise', but there's no fun when it comes to getting injured. Here on our Islands, we offer the people who visit a chance to experience things that they've never really done before, whether it's from parachuting, scuba diving, or a simple tour around our sacred grounds that are now open to the public. We definitely do our best to give the tourists a memorable and unforgettable vacation. However, everything you do here does come at your own risk. The deaths and injuries that happen are done by the tourist's negligence and their sense to not care about their own safety. 

           I understand how many tourists come here every year and I say, "Great!" But whatever you do here and everywhere you go is done at your own risk, as I'm pretty sure is the same for sights in the mainland. It's very important for the tourists to be aware of their surroundings in order to keep themselves away from danger. The airport gives away free brochures and in them, states what you should be careful of when visiting a certain place. There are also different methods as to gain more information about a site itself; they should have done some research on the internet before going out to explore the wonders and attractions we have here. As for David Potts, he shouldn't have been near a blowhole to begin with, let alone dancing around it. 

          In other cases, drowning, falling greatly off a steep cliff, etc. come as other issues our state has to deal with due to the tourists not watching where they're going or stepping. Situations like these, unfortunately happen many times, and there are newspapers that state it all. As stated in the article, "Some guidebooks and Internet hiking sites list the split trail as an unofficial hike". So the families of Paula Ramirez and Elizabeth Brem can't say that they hadn't been warned. Many agree that a lot of these 'misfortunes' happen aimlessly and out of our proportion, but that's what online websites or brochures or our tour guide is for. 

          The government can't blame themselves for all these happenings. They've done a great job trying to warn the public about the possible dangers. They've put up signs and warnings and if the tourists haven't seen them, then it's all on them. Even some of the parks have security and people are free to ask as many questions as they want. It's understandable that people came here to have fun, but safety measures actually lead to fun. It's all common sense and the tourists need to be aware that things like these happen; not everyday, but keeping an eye out and stepping back from possible corruptions will definitely give them a memorable vacation.