... stop the world, i wanna get off
... for any of you out there who don't know me, be ready to either open-mindedly read an uneducated opinion, or run screaming to someone else's blog and have a nice day. i'm a bit of an idiot overall, see? i don't like politics, i hate watching the news due to the media's fascination constant and mind-numbing highlighting of humankind's hate and voilence toward each other, and i get easily pissed when people try to force their values and/or belief systems down my throat.
with that lengthy caveat now in tow, i give you my only opinion and/or odd reaction to the recent shooting tragedy that has swept the nation. (need i even add that all the goddamed movie studios are scrambling for the rights to the story to turn into a damned hollywood blockbuster, those SICK BASTARDS)
i heard a compelling yet gut-twisting radio talk the other day talking about this shooting tragedy. when i first heard the radio caller begin to state his case, i was pissed, irritated and even contemplated changing channels due to his goddamned audacity to ask such a question. but then it hit me... what if he's got a valid point?
his question was simple: "not unlike the passengers who fought back and brought down the plane in PA during the 9/11 attack..., why didn't any of the students do the same?"
now, granted that most of us do not know how we'd react in this situation, but when the steam stopped coming out of my ears, i began to listen to "some of his" supporting arguement, and it honestly made me wonder a little bit. the caller spoke of old-school values and morals, along with assumed,"woman and children first mentalities" that were instilled into the "men" of years past. i have to agree with the one fact that yesh, it IS possible that had people stood up to this deranged attacker, possibly fewer deaths would have occurred.
My issue is, well... i dunno. (whimper) should we have to be expected to DO THIS had other steps and measures been taken to prevent this? (don't even get me started on the whole "wtf is the world coming to that we even HAVE to have these measures in place?!")
the caller continued his side and highlighted the brave and now "hailed as a hero" Holocaust survivor who gave his life to HOLD THE DOORS SHUT while students escaped through windows behind him. in my mind, this man without a doubt is hero, was brave and beyond compassionate and honorable for giving his life to the children behind him scrambling for their lives... but my gods, what horrors had this man already faced in his life?, and yet in a moments notice, he sacrificed himself without hesitation for people he didn't even know... my gods, the gift he gave those survivors' families...
woman and children first. right? some people get all self righteous and pissy hearing that. it's not sexist necessarily, but it's respect, it's survival... isn't it? DOES that thought process exist anymore? MORE injuries occurred apparently such as crushed ribs, broken bones, cuts, bruises and scrapes due to students (male and female) hurting one another trying to escape from the entire nightmarish event.
i'm not in any way saying that people are to blame, i am in NO WAY belittling the horror and tragedy of the event, but the "caller" who raised this point and got me to think.
i don't have answers. but i do have pain. our country is learning to cower and weep or run in the face of FEAR. our media is partially to blame, and certain equal assholes running our government causing dissent and radical "anti-america" behaviour everywhere... would anyone care to share their thoughts on this?
7 comments:
I, too heard part of that broadcast or a rebroadcast...you're right, at first, it's WTF; but as you continue to listen......why not, of course, that's exactly it! Let the men be men of valor! Hold the line, women and children first, what can we do for our country-not what can our country do for us. [oh no, now I've done....repeated good down home common old school sense]. I think the sponge holds water.
WTF, indeed. How can we expect our progeny to be heroic when we have protected them from the very challenges that might have made them heroes?
There are too many "helicopter" parents who believe it is their responsibility to insure their children never experience pain, work, failure, etc. What have we done? Don't we realize that through these early challenges we develop character? You know, CHARACTER, the capacity to be a person of worth who is willing to step up and be counted.
Well, so much for my diatribe.
What really pisses me off is the pious denunciation of those who did the best that they could under the circumstances. And that holds for every situation similar to the VT catastrophe.
enuff said.
You did ask, didn't you.
Lurve ya man. How about a Bud Lite together sometime?
Great, thought provoking post.
Ok. Seeing as I live in Colorado and grew up *very* near (and was even friends w/ people involved in the horrid Columbine episode)....I find this topic somewhat sensitive to me.
Here is my take.
NO. To expect and also FAULT someone on the way they reacted in a moment of panic and crisis is just flat out *WRONG*.
Yes. Certain pple, heros of 911, reactd in ways that were highly admirable and incredible. KUDDOS. I love those people. I admire them. I bow down to their efforts.
BUT to fault someone else on their reactions just flat out *pisses.me.right.off*. Have THEY been in a situation like that?!
I guess for me. DON'T JUDGE. STOP judging. There was an absolute head case who did a horrid, insane thing. But to then judge OTHERS on how they handled the situation.
Not.fucking.ok.
My take. :) With a grain of salt.....
~EE
Since some seem to consider college students as children still, can they be faulted for running like children? As parents we need to protect them, part of that protecting is teaching them how to solve problems and how to protect themselves.
I feel bad/sad/sorry for all that were killed or injured and their families, even the man who thought that he had to shoot everyone. What was overlooked in his life that made him snap?
(You did ask what we thought.)
Live fully....
We're all animals, Homo sapiens, and as such react to terror with basic animal instinct. Simple fight or flight. Yes, you can call those who stood up to him heroic, I agree that they were, but you can't fault those who panicked and scrambled for safety. NO ONE knows what his or her reaction will be in a situation like that. I guess if you have had serious military training or something, you'd likely switch automatically into fight mode, but there's no guarantee of that, either. Any who fought to protect the others were indeed heroic, but that doesn't make those who fled--whether men, women, or children--cowardly or shameful.
As for women and children first, I have to agree a little bit because men are in most cases stronger and arguably more capable of fighting. It would certainly have been nice if they'd helped the women and the less capable before rushing out themselves. But I can't fault anyone who panicked, male or female. Especially because most of them must still have been teenagers, hardly full-fledged men and women at all.
WOW - thank you all for your incredible comments so far.
also very thought-provoking and intuitive.
i would also like to thank you all for not attacking me in any way. that may sound odd, but in the past, i've posted things that sound like "my opinion" and soooome people slammed me.
this time around, really these are thoughts and observations written with the hopes of gaining more insight from all of you, which you've delivered...
my many thanks.
whoooda thunk i'd write something worth responding too, eh?
giggle
Blech. People slammed you for having an opinion that you posted on um, YOUR blog?!?! Trolls. I think you know how I feel about people who do that.
Asshats.
*smooch*
Post a Comment