You know what gets my eyes rolling is all the chest thumping about “this show you what kind of city this is” or “this shows you how we respond to such horror” concerning the first responders and all the hero stories about bystanders.
You know what? Every city and every society responds the same way. I love Boston, but there is nothing special about the way Bostonians reacted to this that any other city in the world wouldn’t have. We’re all human beings, fer chrissake.
I totally get where you’re coming from, but I’m happy to turn a blind eye to a little bluster if it helps. Nobody’s really saying “we’re better at handling this than X City,” it’s just a way to say “we’re still here / still strong / good people.”
When things like this happen, it’s impossible for people not to be talking about it, and I think there’s some value in talking about strength and pride and healing instead of death and trauma and horror.
I’d be happy if the fucking networks would stop with the “tragedy music” they play every time something like this happens. We get it, it’s a tragedy; we can tell by the blood and bodies and weeping survivors. What we don’t need is some newsroom asshole turning it into a Lifetime movie of the week.
Well, to be fair, there is a certain psychological morale value to this sort of thing. It tends to over-ride the depressing melodrama Pit of Despair crap and get people focused on thinking about how they really are strong and can overcome this kind of crap.
Isn’t there some kind of emotional phenomenon at work here? Like people make a big deal about tragedies like this because it somehow makes them feel more connected? Its surreal but makes sense.
A lot of people have this ‘hero’ fantasy, that they could have done something directly to either prevent or help allieviate a tragedy. Concluding that they are just Joe Blow and anything they realistically can do (donate money, usually) has a marginal and invisible impact on events is depressing and makes them feel unimportant. By making a big deal out of it, they are miming the experience of the victims, seeking validation from others and convincing themselves that ‘they care’.
Telling stories of people rising to the occasion, doing the brave or kind thing, is important. Yes, we’re all human beings. It’s good to remind each other of that. That’s what resolves people to rise to the occasion when it’s their turn. Someday you will be in a position to help someone in a crisis–or to need it.
I endorse this pitting 100%. If you run an independent pizza shop in Chicago, I honestly don’t care if you show how much you’re in mourning for Boston on your facebook page.
And now, we get to deal with heightened security, for prime terrorist targets like the Penn State Spring Football game!
Agreed. My MIL started in with, “Now they say X number of people have died . . .” yesterday and I (admittedly rudely) cut her off and said, “I really don’t want to hear about it. It does no good and only makes me feel terrible.” And really, why ought we to pay attention and shed tears because a stranger’s 8 year old was killed by a bomb, when we don’t even notice all the strangers’ kids who die in car accidents and other “mundane” tragedies every damn day? I just don’t have the emotional capital to invest, and there is something morbid and breathless in everyone’s rush to participate somehow.
This interview with a security expert is in agreement. Before I read it, I had already decided to follow my husband’s advice and start treating these events like lightning strike deaths - it would be scary and awful if it happened to someone you know, but it’s not useful to fret about it or change your behavior to avoid it. I felt like this article confirmed that approach, not just from a psychological health perspective, but ironically as one of the only things regular people can do to combat terrorism!
First off, I sympathize with those who were affected by the bombings…it’s horrible, and the family that lost their son and had their daughter lose their leg must be in awful pain…and I feel for them.
But.
Let’s face it, this is 3 terrorist caused deaths in the past decade in the US. I’m not exactly going to go freaking out that death is looming everywhere. I’m far more likely to die on my way home from work today from a mundane traffic accident than I am to be blown up at a sporting event.
Looking at stats (and going off the last full year of motor vehicle deaths), and taking that 25% of the US population is under 18, approximately 22 children have been killed in car accidents since the bombs went off. Are their families grieving any less?
I’m not saying what happened in Boston isn’t terrible, and it’s simply sick that someone would intentionally maim and kill innocent people in this way, but we’re going a bit overboard. We had 3 killed and 25 injured in a 95 car pileup in Virginia just two weeks ago, and I don’t even remember hearing about it.
I’m also sick of the way they name everything. “Bombing in Beantown”. “Massacre at the Marathon”. Does it really need a title?
The same logic applies to the mass shooting suspects. The more everyone talks about it, the more it feeds into the killer’s sick ego, whether they are alive or dead. I realize, of course, that the killer isn’t looking back from the Great Beyond and gloating, “Wow, I’m really famous!” But as they as planning their rampage their warped brains can already picture the headlines, photos and made-for-TV movies all mentioning their names.
“How dare you! Didn’t you know anything about what happened in Boston? Don’t you care about all those poor people? You insensitive asshole!”
"What are you doing to make us safer? DO SOMETHING! If you’re not doing something, you’re just letting us twist in the wind waiting for the next bomb to go off! PROTECT US NOW!
Security theater happens because the people demand it. Empty expressions of grief happen because the people demand it. Politicians and media executives still generally act the way the people demand.
and gloating, “Wow, I’m really famous!” But as they as planning their rampage their warped brains can already picture the headlines, photos and made-for-TV movies all mentioning their names.