Current Events
I was watching the news tonight about an American family that had just found out that their daughter was among the casualties of the tragic earthquake and tsunami a little over a week ago. Taylor Anderson, an accomplished English teacher who had been living in Japan and teaching English to young students there, used what precious time she had to escape, to make sure her students were safe. It was a brave and selfless act that cost her her life in the end. She was the first American known to have been killed in the disaster.
Losing their daughter was probably the single worst event in the lives of her family, but to add to the tragedy of that loss, is the fact that, as often happens in the aftermath of a disaster, information can get mixed up. Taylor’s family had been told that she had survived and was safe, only to find out later that they had been misinformed. A devastating turn of events. Almost impossible to believe.
I know how this family feels, and my heart goes out to them. My family also experienced a similar devastating situation of misinformation. My Great Aunt Gladys was one of the victims in the 1989 crash of United Airlines flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa. Our family was also told that she had survived, and it was even on television…but it wasn’t to be. Somehow her purse had arrived at a hospital with another woman, so they thought it was her. We couldn’t believe it, and even continued
to watch the reports, hoping against hope that they had been wrong.
Losing a loved one in any kind of disaster is unbearably hard, but when you are told they made it, and then find out they didn’t…well, it’s like losing them twice. It is no one’s fault, of course, and those people who have told someone their loved one is safe, only to have to tell them they were mistaken, are torn to shreds too. It is devastating to all involved, and my heart goes out to each and every one of them.
I read an article today on Fox News concerning the 180 men who have chosen to stay behind and fight to try to stop a meltdown at the Dai-ichi nuclear plant at Fukushima. I thought in awe, about the risk they are taking in an effort to save the lives of others. I wondered, if they can only stay in there for 15 minutes due to the extremely high radiation levels, then aren’t they basically committing suicide. Those levels of radiation would almost certainly shorten their lives. These men are heroes beyond any normal sense of the word.
That got me thinking about what makes a hero. People like the fire fighters and policemen and policewomen that went charging into the Twin Towers on 9-11, or those who risk their lives to run into any burning building. People who go out in frigid temperatures to find someone who is lost. Or as in this case, people who go into a nuclear plant that is about to melt down. What do these people have in common? They put the lives of other people ahead of themselves. Somehow, they are able to set aside their own fears and place more value on someone else’s life than they place on their own. That is more than amazing to me. It is beyond comprehension!
Another group that I think of as heroes that many people might not agree with is the news reporter. I was watching Shepard Smith, standing outside in Japan with 6 layers of clothing, knowing that he was in much more danger of radiation the anyone back home, and yet his main concern was how the people in the disaster areas were in danger of losing their lives due to the cold. That is heroic in my book.
Heroes come in many forms, but they all have one thing in common…a love and concern for their fellow man that far transcends their concern for personal safety. It is something we should never forget. Today, I say thank you to all our heroes, worldwide. You are the best.
While watching the news concerning the earthquake in Japan, and the ensuing tsunami in Japan, Hawaii, and the US west coast this week, I am once again shocked and saddened by the chances people take. The people is Japan had virtually no warning, and so they couldn’t prepare for the tragic events that happened that awful day, but the man that was swept out to sea in California while taking pictures of the waves, knew the chance he was taking.
I’m quite sure that if the people in Japan had been able to get away, they would have. There simply wasn’t time, and as a result, many lives were unavoidably lost. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy. Those left behind have a monumental job ahead of them to rebuild in the midst of so much grief.
The people in Hawaii and the US west coast, had enough warning, however, and were told to stay away from the coast line. So why do we feel the need to go out there and get pictures of the event, simply to say we were there. My mind wanders to the thoughts going through the mind of that poor man being swept out to sea, knowing that his impending death was due entirely to his own foolish choices. Obviously, if he could do it all over again, knowing what he now knows, he would literally run in the opposite direction. I’m sure he thought of his loved ones toward the end, with much regret for putting them in a position of such grief. I know it was not his intent to end up this way, but the love of the all elusive historic photo to document the day, overtook his good sense concerning his own safety.
As I watched the footage, I saw a wave coming in to a Santa Cruz, California marina, and hitting the boats parked there. People were walking on the docks there! It was unbelievable! The reporter was saying that these people had been told not to be there, but once again the thought that “it won’t happen to me” kicked in and curiosity won out. Even if you aren’t swept away, getting caught between two colliding boats would take the same toll. People, please…think of your loved ones, if you can’t think of yourself. Please don’t take the risk. It isn’t worth it.
My husband and I were on our evening walk at our local mall, and dodging the other shoppers is simply the norm. I understand that people are busy with their own shopping, and probably don’t even see us walking, but it got me thinking about the kind of witness people would make. The people we run into, and sometimes I almost mean that literally, coming out of the stores as we walk by, often look at us, but see right through us. They walk right out in front of us and we have to slow down or work our way around them. They seldom notice that they cut us off at all.
So, if the need were ever to arise for them to need to be able to recount what they saw is a situation, could they? Or would they have to say that they don’t remember anything? In an abduction, shooting, robbery, etc, the witnesses are the best chance of solving the crime…provided they saw something. I have to think that probably 95% of the people we see in the mall couldn’t recall the facts of a crime committed right in front of them at the mall. They just didn’t see it.
I also started thinking about how observant these people would be in regard to their own protection. We are told not to just walk along unaware of your surroundings, because that is how people can sneak up on you. Unfortunately, in this day and age, people can’t afford not to be observant.
Yes, it is important to me to have you see me coming when you walk out of a store at the mall, but there may be others who really hope you saw something that went on while you were there. You never know when what you saw will be a matter of life and death.
I was having trouble coming up with something to blog about tonight, and then my husband and I went to the show. We saw The Green Hornet 3D. It was a great experience. You have to pay extra for the glasses, but it is well worth it.
Now, I’m sure many of you have seen movies in 3D before, but we had not, so this was a very different experience for us. We had been told that it felt like things jumped right out at you, but you don’t really understand exactly what that means until you see it. I am a huge fan of action movies, so I have probably seen then all, and I can honestly say that all of them would be enhanced by 3D. When there was a car wreck, you felt like it was right there, close enough to touch. When the semi-truck was coming right at them, you felt like you just got hit. And things that came out at the edge of the screen, felt like you just ran into them. It was so cool!!
I consider myself a bit of a techy, so the new technology in movies is always very interesting to me. I think this one of the most awesome advances, and if you haven’t experienced it, I would highly recommend it.
