My heart is in my throat all over a photo of a baby crawling on the edge of a gynormous cliff in Norway. The photo was taken by Fred Sirevåg who was enjoying the view at Preikestolen a.k.a. Pulpit Rock when much to his shock, he saw a baby that was accompanied by four adults placed near the edge of the cliff and left to crawl around on its own so that a picture could be snapped. You guys, it's a sharp drop of almost 2,000 feet! I'm sorry, but WTF were these people thinking?!
And no, I'm not exaggerating, as you will see by the photo below.
Read more ¿Qué más?: Adrien Peterson child abuse scandal: Is it EVER OK to hit kids?
'You'd be pretty much dead if you fall down': Hiker says couple placed baby on edge of cliff to snap a souvenir photo pic.twitter.com/IUqofcJWgy
— Chris Kitching (@chriskitching) September 16, 2014
That baby looks like it's closer to the edge than those adults are to the baby. If there is one thing that I know about mobile babies it's that they are unpredictable, can be surprisingly fast and aren't all that coordinated.
Sirevåg, who took the photo of this crazy lapse in parental judgment says,
They let the baby crawl near the edge and they even walked back a few steps so that they could take pictures of the baby with Preikestolen in the background. I think it was very creepy. The baby could have fallen in any direction. I think it was very irresponsible.
Sirevåg was about to walk over and say something to the parents, but they left shortly after he took the photo.
To tell you the truth, as an adult, I wouldn't stand that close to edge the cliff for fear of losing my balance or that the edge wouldn't be steady or safe. According to Preben Falck, the general manager of the Stavanger Tourist Association in Norway, there is no fencing or railing up because "spoil the experience." No doubt a falling baby would spoil the experience as well.
I'm not surprised that there is no signage up saying, "Parents, please don't let your infants crawl around the edge as there is an incredibly sharp drop" because no one in their right mind would think a sign like that would be necessary, but apparently it is.
Image via good_day/Flickr
