Miscellaneous Writings

Disasters

When I see the after effects of natural disasters on the news I tend to think about how lucky I am that it didn't happen to me. I think about how I would feel if I were involved or effected by the disaster itself and I'm shaken.

What would I do if my house was destroyed by a tornado? Where would we go? I have a family of four with two cats and a dog. Would we all be together? If not, would our phones work to try to contact one another? Did we have our phones on our body or were they part of the destruction left behind? Personally I wouldn't care too much about anything at the moment besides having my family with me safe and sound.

It's rare that I know anyone who has been effected by a natural disaster. But what would I do? I'd like to think that we could loan the use of our camper to someone who didn't have a home as a result of something like a tornado, if we knew them. I don't know if I would loan it out to a stranger.

However, then we have situations where someone who is extremely mentally ill has taken it upon themselves to shoot and kill fellow human beings. When I see this on the news I'm shaken to the core. I mean this could happen anywhere. It's sad to think that someone has either been pushed to their breaking point, or that they have a perception, that the only way to fix what they're going through is to kill people. I don't understand what makes them believe that what they've done will change anything. The only thing it does is to keep the rest of us captive because of rules that are put in place to keep it from happening again. I guess mental health is one thing that the government doesn't see as important enough to rally behind to possibly change outcomes.

I did know people who were victims of the Ferguson, Missouri tragedy. My friends were terrified and you could see the pain on their faces when discussing the situation. They might as well have been held captive in their homes because they didn't want to go out. One of my friends worked hard to keep her son in the house and not out in the streets where all the fighting was happening. I can't imagine being in their place. I can't imagine being worried that someone may raid my house and kill us all; or that a bullet may come flying through my house and potentially kill one of us.

I don't understand how people can get so angry that they want nothing else than to hurt one another. But I guess that's technically what war is, isn't it?

Still we all try to pick up and move on after these kinds of events. We have family, friends and coworkers that help us. There's also people who come out from nowhere who are willing to help. Whether it's offering a family somewhere to stay while they get back on their feet, or providing clothing, food, and other necessary household items to replace what someone's lost in a fire. Many times I've heard about someone replacing Christmas gifts that have been lost in a fire. I'd say that's compassion and gives hope to those who may feel completely defeated.