Originally Posted By RoadTrip He's sorry that I'm such a wuss that I would somehow feel sad and disillusioned by the disaster. That is fine. Our belief structures are so totally different that it would bother me if he approved of something I did. And I'm sure he'd probably feel the same about me.
Originally Posted By jonvn "I'm such a wuss that I would somehow feel sad and disillusioned by the disaster." Of course you can feel sad. I'm sorry you feel a lot of self pity. I'm glad you didn't get hurt, but you DIDN'T get hurt. As I described, I've been in a similar situation. A road I traveled on for many years killed many people when it collapsed. What has happened to this country? We have turned from being a nation of people able to do things into a bunch of micturating cry babies. Steel yourself up, and do something about the situation. Don't sit there and bemoan how awful it is for you. It's a heck of a lot more awful for those people who actually lost someone.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Yeesh, that was harsh. And I don't think at all accurate. In a moment of reflection, Road Trip posts about how a tragedy close to home affected him. That isn't my definition of a pity party. We're still a nation able to do things while also mourning our losses. Having empathy and actually being emotionally impacted by a world event isn't being a cry baby. It's being human.
Originally Posted By jonvn Well, maybe I'm in a bit of a bad mood, given the 17 kids topic. I have empathy. But I am tired of people in this country feeling sorry for themselves.
Originally Posted By imadisneygal RT, I'm still with you. I feel sorry for people who think they have to be strong and "steel" themselves up all the time. Everybody needs a soft place to fall, and it was my understanding that OF COURSE you understand that these things happen. And of course they've been happening for years, and they'll continue to happen. But you were having a "what the hell is happening to the world" moment. We all have them. Even if some deny it. I know LP is an online community but it seems to me that some posters consider others "friends" even though they've never met. It was my understanding that your post was meant to just vent a little and express a little sadness and frustration to "friends". Not to have a pity party. At least I didn't read it like that.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Agree with Kar2oonman and imadisneygal. I had your very thoughts after Katrina. I was deeply affected by that and even more so to the threads about it on LP. I felt completely disjointed, full of despair and pondering our existance because I'm constantly trying to wrap my brain around how we can be so empowering as humans and so utterly disgusting all at the same time. It's hard to explain how events like this cause us to question things about life and how it balances out but they do. I had the same thoughts while watching the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. While I'm about ten years younger than vbdad55 and you, RT I do agree we definitely grew up in a different time and things have changed drastically. Growing up in the 60's and 70's was vastly different, especially here in the Bay Area/SF & Berkeley - I saw it all.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 It's worth remembering that sometimes one needs a moment of reflection BEFORE one gets his/her thoughts clarified and then takes action. Reflection and action don't need to be mutually exclusive.
Originally Posted By jonvn Perhaps I've seen a bit more than a lot of the people in this country. Perhaps not. I simply think that an overwrought reaction to everything is not the way to be. Look at Pearl Harbor. We got bombed. Did we sit there and wring our hands and say how awful things are? No, we buckled down and went to war. People need to stop whining. I'm sorry people were killed, and thankfully it seems like a much lower number than it could have been, but this is not a reason to bemoan our existence.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Who said everything? RT had a reaction to a specific event. He expressed it, what's so hard to understand. Quit blowing things out of proportion.
Originally Posted By jonvn Actually, he was talking about a wide range of things. So am I. Nobody says the bridge wasn't a terrible disaster. So was Katrina. But then, so was the 1906 SF earthquake. You know what people did in 1906? They got down to work and rebuilt the city. Now when something bad happens, people sit and feel sorry themselves.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<I simply think that an overwrought reaction to everything is not the way to be.>> I don't think I had an overwrought reaction, and I certainly did not whine. I was wondering why an event made me feel bad even when (as you love to point out) I did not personally know any of those injured or killed. I then attributed my sadness to a mix of empathy and today's many uncertainties. I then asked if any other LP'ers ever felt the same way. If you think being somewhat reflective after an incident like that makes me a whiny little jerk, I'm OK with that. Many more people here don't think that, so I think my reactions are normal.
Originally Posted By jonvn "when (as you love to point out) I did not personally know any of those injured or killed." I didn't say that. "whiny little jerk" Neither did I call you a whiny little jerk.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 <<<Now when something bad happens, people sit and feel sorry themselves.>>> That explains all the volunteers and self acts of countless people after 9/11, Katrina, Oklahoma City, 1989 SF earthquake and pretty much any other disaster. Slackers and whiny crybabies. Yeah, ok.
Originally Posted By avromark Bringing in the Internation spin. Things are cyclical, remember (before I was born, and when I was a baby) the period of "Deferred Maintenance"? Don't fix it until it's broken. I believe in preventive maintenance. I don't think the America's will let it get to the point of self destruction of society. But I wouldn't put it past "The Powers That Be" to bring us near to it. Security Concerns - Yes, for sure. But... Why does the quality of service have to suffer on airlines? I mean is it really that hard you know to provide decent service with a smile? Will eliminating food (or making you pay for your food extra) really going to save the airlines? Do we really need to squeeze in more seats, especially since the days of running planes with less occupancy seem to be going to the wayside? Do prices of gas really have to be that high? Isn't the gas purchased in the "pipes" awhile ago, and should affect prices later not now? Business seems to take every chance to squeeze us. OK. Off-shoring (Ie Manufacturing or people skills) saves the first company that does it money. But in the end quality suffers, and since the people who used to purchase those items here now make less money... Well eventually you kill off your market here. But short term profits will go up. Who cares about long term stability, or quality service, when you can save 50c a car by eliminating the plastic dead pedal? Things go up and down, we're in a slump. But I think that eventually the pendulum will swing the other way. We look back to the past with rose coloured glasses. Cuban Missle Crisis was scary. The Cold War ended, we were happy. The thing I hate is for things to improve they often have to get much worst.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<"when (as you love to point out) I did not personally know any of those injured or killed." I didn't say that.>> No, not in so many words. But I think this comes pretty darned close: << Don't sit there and bemoan how awful it is for you. It's a heck of a lot more awful for those people who actually lost someone.>> Besides... arguing over a word here or there is meaningless. You clearly think my reaction was out of line. I don't. End of story.
Originally Posted By jonvn "No, not in so many words. But I think this comes pretty darned close:" No, not in ANY words. What I wrote does not say what you said AT ALL. "You clearly think my reaction was out of line." And I didn't say that, either.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Getting back to the topic, I think that the only time that things are "certain" is when you are under the age of, say, 12. Being an parentt in the 50s wasn't easy either, race "problems" were rumbling we were at war in Korea, and starting in Vietnam, Red Scares, and so on. The 60s were particularly scary, when viewed through a certain lens: Vietnam, hippies, free love, political assinations, and so on. We romanticize some of those things now (the hippies and free love) but for many adults raising children at the time they were scary indicators of how their "certain" world was breaking down. Things continued to be uncertain for the next 30 years (Watergate, and zero trust in the Executive Office, MTV, race riots, gang issues) I don't think the world has ever been a particularly safe place. Only children with decent parents have the illusion of safty.
