Eh this is a weird take -- if you are poor and everyone you know is poor, I don't think life jackets are the #1 thing you worry about, or even the #100 thing.

Eh this is a weird take -- if you are poor and everyone you know is poor, I don't think life jackets are the #1 thing you worry about, or even the #100 thing. In rural communities, people are dying of many things, like not having medical care, drug addiction, murder, suicide, etc. Obviously fate made this outing seem like a bad idea in hindsight, but I'd also say that leaving a 14 year kid to support a family of 4 is a bad idea in foresight. i.e. if this is your takeaway, (respectfully) consider a different perspective