The Wild Within an Accountant, Lawyer, and Engineer

A group of friends from West Michigan, including an engineer, a lawyer, and an accountant, were inspired by their fellow Muskegon Community College alumnus, Steve Rinella of The Travel Channel’s The Wild Within, decided to take a hunting and fishing trip in the Florida Everglades to put a video of their experience together in hopes of getting on Steve’s show.  They also planned to score some tasty vittles.

The engineer was a novice pilot and flew a little too low scouting for a remote hunting and fishing spot, clipped the tops of some cypress trees, and crashed.  Fortunately, they survived the small plane wreck and were able to deploy the emergency raft in a remote part of the Everglades near the southern tip of Florida.

In the distance, they saw a dry patch of land. The engineer, using his technical skills and knowledge of physics, tied himself to the raft using a rope.  He jumped into the marshy water and began wading towards the dry land pulling the raft behind him. The engineer became bogged down in muck, covered by leeches, and started screaming that an alligator was heading toward him. The lawyer and the accountant managed to save him from himself, pulling the rope and his leach-covered body back into the boat.

Next, the accountant tied the rope to himself saying that he would take a turn.  While covering up all of his exposed skin to protect against leeches, he explained to the engineer and lawyer that the alligator was simply far enough off and would be sufficiently slowed by the reedy parts of the marsh so as not to bother them anyway.  He said he calculated the distance to shore and the estimated speed of himself and the alligator and was certain he would reach the shore in time.  The lawyer jokingly stated, “I trust your figures, but I am glad we got your estate plan up to date last week.”  The engineer pleaded with him to stay in the boat and wait for help, stating that his calculations showed the opposite.

Nearly as soon as the accountant eased himself into the water, not one but three alligators started heading toward him.  Fortunately, the engineer was ready for this and pulled the accountant to safety.

Finally, the lawyer rolled his eyes and dove into the water not even bothering with the rope and leaving much of his skin exposed. The alligators swept in, but instead of attacking the lawyer, they helped push the raft to dry land and the headed back out into the swamp.  The leeches also did not bother the lawyer.  The engineer and accountant were amazed. “How did you do that?” they asked. “Professional courtesy,” he replied.