2003-01-25
Here's something I posted to a discussion list about the Columbia space shuttle:
I don't think this is going to make me any friends, but here's my response to this event. I find it very sad that these individuals died and I feel for their families. At the same time, I'm mindful of the fact that they chose to engage in an extremely dangerous activity and that tempers my surprise.
I feel a bit like I do hearing about people who die while climbing Mt. Everest, especially those who left behind children. I find it hard to understand when people with spouses and children undertake that activity, knowing that death is a real possibility. Yes, they are fulfilling lifelong dreams, and that's cool and admirable. At the same time, they are risking leaving their families forever.
There is also something about the amount of media attention on this event that is a little hard for me to take. Earlier this week there was an explosion in a factory in NC that killed a number of people. They all had families, too, but we aren't learning all of their names and hobbies, hearing their relatives interviewed, etc. Are their lives less valuable or their stories less compelling because they were just going to work to feed their families? And what about the people killed every single day because of drunk drivers?
The fact that the media chooses to focus on certain tragedies while downplaying and ignoring others is old news. It doesn't make the ones they find newsworthy any less sad, but something about the sheer volume of coverage almost has a numbing effect on me.
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