April 19, 2007
People die. It's what happens.
There's a piece on Slate which sums up part of my reaction to the VT shootings. Which, though obviously terrible, are... well... kind of small potatoes. Certainly not for the people involved, but... we're talking about 33 people here. Iraq lost 170 in an open air market last week. In seconds. A few months earlier, 125 were killed at the same market. Heck, Timothy McVeigh took out 168 few years back.
At the time of my writing this, a reservoir has burst in central China, forcing the evacuation of two villages and over 2,500 people. Elsewhere in that country, an accident at a steel mill poured molten steel on workers in a break room, killing 32 of them. One is dead, 65 infected, and 9,000 at risk for typhoid in Fiji from contaminated water. 300 people are homeless in Alberta after a fire destroyed 94 housing units late last night.
People die. It's what we do. It's terrible, tragic... and mundane. Sure, the VT shootings happened to mostly young people. Sure, the shooter was pretty psycho and sent a package to NBC. Sure, nothing exactly like this has happened in the US before. But, really, in the long-run, I just can't get all that excited about this. I predict that it will have largely faded from the public square within a week, if for no other reason than that there's no one to prosecute. It's over. People are dead, and those of us still living move on. Those directly affected by the tragedy will grieve for a time, as they should. Those who know them should provide what comfort and sympathy we can.
But life is full of things like this, and though some people's lives have just been turned upside down, I have class in two and a half hours, and a paper due this week.
come on, man...
keep this in your (paperback) diary, not on the online forum where people with kids or friends killed in the shootings can find it. it's kind of like you're asking for controversy, and it's over people's lives. and it's just so soon...
Posted by: daniel at April 19, 2007 11:28 AMRyan has a point here, where is all our sympathy and concern for those other people he mentions in this post? Because those incidents didn't happen in America it somehow lessens the reality and tragedy of it? I don't necessarily agree with the way Ryan has put it, but his point should be well taken.
Posted by: Jared at April 19, 2007 3:41 PMyeah, i agree--he has a point. but i don't know. it's already been made by--well, slate. i'd much rather pen the unsympathetic pin on someone distant working for slate than someone who has been in the chattanooga community.
does that make sense?
in other words, if i'm going to read that opinion, i'd rather it be from someone who is more "untouchable" like a news reporter.
and it's completely different when you're talking about this face to face vs. reading about it on someone's blog. i can't hear the empathy in ryan's voice, i can't see the pain in his face. i just see white words against a black page, and that can come off fairly harsh.
Posted by: daniel at April 19, 2007 4:33 PMAre you the one who on September 11th, 2001 posted on the Wittenburg door an argument that the attacks were "no big deal" because more people are sometimes killed abroad.
What problem are you trying to solve?
Posted by: Nat at April 20, 2007 10:51 AMDaniel,
I think you mean pin (attach) the pen (writing utensil), yes? At any rate, I understand what you mean. Ryan hasn't ever been shy about letting his opinion out, at least as long as I've known him. Does this justify being tactless? No, I don't think it does, but there it is.
You're definitely right about conversations taking on a whole new layer when done in person as opposed to online.
Nat,
Are you asking me or Ryan?
Posted by: Jared at April 20, 2007 12:50 PMJared: I appreciate the acknowledgment. And in re Nat, he doesn't like my politics (the feeling is largely mutual), so I presume he's referring to me.
Nat: Yours is an empirical question to which I no longer have access to the probative data.
Who says I'm trying to solve any problem? Having now just reread the post twice, I don't see me criticizing anyone's response. For that, you can go here. I expressed my take on the situation. I've expressed no opinions about anyone else's response to the situation, so any such criticism you may interpret there is your responsibility not mine. If you do find criticism there, well, if the shoe fits...
Posted by: ryan at April 20, 2007 1:42 PMjared, as a full-time writer, i am offended that you would doubt my spelling of pen (you suggested pin). please note that i carefully choose each word i write, and i opted for the old english form of pin, which is pen.
okay, i'm full of crap. i goofed. and the funny thing is, i even thought about it. i thought i remembered writing pin, but the internet doesn't lie.
Posted by: daniel at April 20, 2007 3:41 PMDaniel,
As a full-time editor I am required to respect your use of alternate spellings; but the old english form of pin is pinn. However, I suppose the mistake is forgivable since the pre-Germanic origin of pinn is penn.
Okay, so, I'm full of crap too--I'm not really an editor ;-)
Posted by: Jared at April 20, 2007 7:03 PM