Is this guy supposed to be a leading example?!

VG Nett

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I have often been asked the question "What do we need the king for?" by people sceptical of the Royal family in a country where they have no meaningful governmental function. I always answer that they are a focal point for the people's sense of unity and nationalism in times of need, and give WW2 as a perfect example of such a case. Also, I add, when somebody is looked up to just because of who they are, they can function as a fantastic vessel for imbuing good attitudes and showing people how to behave properly, just by a leading example. Giving people a good example of their own choosing is often a lot more effective than "motivatonal" campaigns orchestrated by people with scant understanding of PR and little to no understandig of young people's minds.

Of course, this poses the dilemma of what attitudes and practices should be officially sanctioned. Some are obvious choices, such as non-smoking (I'm a sinner!), whereas others, such as monogamy and other religiously motivatded themes, are more open to debate. Here's an easy one for you, though: Safe boating. That ought to be a no-brainer. Here we have a convenient, albeit expensive leading star, in the shape of the crown prince, and he loves to go boating. The very least we could ask of him, then, is that he does everything within his power to set a good example to other boaters. Then, he goes ahead and does this.

For the english speaking readers of this blog (are there any?), here's a short resumé of the above newspaper article. The crown prince goes boating in a high-powered RIB and gets ejected by a wave. At this point, it becomes obvious that he wasn't wearing his kill switch lanyard, as the boat runs in circles for 20 minutes before being brought under control. Then, the bastard gets away from it all without as much as a bruise to show for this exercise in public stupidity.

Luckily, I'm too experienced to be misled by his actions. Given my 100+ hours of driving time in small, fast boats every year, I'm pretty confident that if I don't clip in, I'll be killed for it sooner or later. And as one of my leading examples once put it to me: That's a pretty fucking stupid way to die. Besides, I've spent time in the water thinking I wasn't going to make it, so I don't need anyone to tell me that it's best to make sure the boat stops so you can get back in.

At this point, the RCP has performed pretty much the opposite of what I deem to be one of his most important functions. He has showed young, up-and-coming boaters that you don't need to wear your kill lanyard, because if you have an accident, someone will be there to rescue you. Besides, the royals don't wear it, so why should you? It all makes me wonder how many heavily funded, lightly pondered government motivational campaigns must be fielded to cancel the ill effects caused by our dear Royal Crown Prince on Monday. Haakon, your actions have disappointed me greatly. I don't think your public apology counts for much. After all, that's what you're expected to do when you misbehave, right? Just apologize, and everything is all right. At least, that's what all the young people taking your example are going to think. I hope you read this, and I hope you cringe. But then, who am I to make you cringe? I'm just a nobody, and you're our great leading star. Go shine!