# I Am SICK of Shuttle-Mourning/Grief! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933 "2003-02-05T13:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/1 "2003-02-05T13:09:39Z")
Honestly, I thinks its time to move on! Every freakin morning, the news has something on about the shuttle disaster! When does it end! Even that fat old drunk (Sen. Ted Kennedy) has gotten into the act-he was down in Florida commiserating with the NASA people (an downing many a glass of scotch as well, no doubt). I really wonder why we have to be constantly reminded of this tragedy…yes, seven fine people died…but what about the people who died in the avalanche in BC last week! This reminds me of the death of princess Diana…endless TV coverage, tons of flowers left on street corners, candles, etc…and endless “human interest” stories on TV. People in Texas are even setting up little shrines in the woods (where various junk from the shuttle fell), complete with candles, flowers , and crosses. It’s like those bizarre roadside sites where somebody died in a car crash. Its like a cult of death…we have to be constantly reminded of it. Enough already!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/2 "2003-02-05T13:21:12Z")
Err … it only happened a couple of days ago … can we, for example, wait until the funerals are over before we stop grieving? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/3 "2003-02-05T13:23:27Z")
Do you actually mean you are sick of the media portrayal of that grief? If so, you have a case. But people are grieving, like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/4 "2003-02-05T14:32:50Z")
I grieve for alot of people, and the astronauts are near the bottom of the list. I support the program, the people, but feel guilty to ignore all the other deaths and suffering in the world. Somewhere yesterday, a dad or mon left for work, tried to avoid risk all day for their family, and were killed by some senseless act. The astronauts placed themselves in harms way, died and got accolades for fulfilling personal dreams. Nice, but enough. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/5 "2003-02-05T15:30:55Z")
I would guess it has to do with ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/6 "2003-02-05T15:49:53Z")
Looks like a rant to me. Shallow and mean-spirited, but a rant nonetheless. I’ll just move it to the Pit so people can bonk you on the head _properly_. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/7 "2003-02-05T16:00:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ralph124c \* > \*\*I Am SICK of Shuttle-Mourning/Grief! \*\* And I’m sick of whiners who can’t figure out how to work their various media devices. But hey, I just soldier on. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/8 "2003-02-05T16:03:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*I’ll just move it to the Pit so people can bonk you on the head _properly_. \*\* I’m picturing Donkey Kong when Mario is running around with that big mallet, hehe. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/9 "2003-02-05T16:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*I’m picturing Donkey Kong when Mario is running around with that big mallet, hehe. \*\* Matches the quality of the OP nicely as well. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/10 "2003-02-05T16:24:45Z")
Don’t you have a DVD or VCR? Maybe you could watch Armageddon or something instead. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/11 "2003-02-05T16:56:54Z")
Entire rooms of psychological theses were written in the aftermath of Diana’s death about that public outpouring … on the scale we now see, this ‘culture’ or ‘trend’ is obviously a modern phenomenon for which there seems to be no single explanation – personally I hate the media-conditioned, knee-jerk candlelight vigil \*type \*stuff but each to their own. It just looks from where I’m sitting that the media know that people somehow emotionally feed off the ‘event’ and so they exploit it for market for ratings … which creates more grieving and more vigils … which creates … until we have mass, media generated psychosis … I guess it can almost be anything you want. A couple of women I saw daily during the Diana thing _seemed_ to be projecting shortcomings in their own ‘emotional experiences’ onto this national event … grieving, if you will, for themselves through the mass psychosis … or summin’…. As I understand it, everyone’s still grasping at straws trying to explain what does happen … On that basis, I have no problem with the honesty or validity of their emotions, but I think we’re entitled to ask questions of the media, especially if it impinges in anyway on the families. And I just don’t know at what stage it becomes mere entertainment, nor where the line is between ‘real’ but, say, ‘projected’ personal grief and real grief for the deceased … I just hate the whole media-led, dammit, media created ritualism around these things …… when did teevee become the virtual Alter, the arbiter of emotions… of …agh ! I dunno…? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/12 "2003-02-05T17:05:06Z")
I hear ya dude. Back when 911 happened or 119, whatever they called it, all I remember was that the TV was fucked up for days. Now don’t get me wrong, seeing some big buildings fall down somewhere is cool the first 10 or 15 times you see it but that gets old pretty fast. I don’t sit around the house all day just so I can see the same damn thing over and over. I need stimulation. I need variety. The worst part was that they even scheduled some damn “tribute” and “memorial” services at night when the good shows come on. Can’t they put those on at like 5:00 in the morning when only the old people are up? They are probably the only ones that want to watch that stuff anyway. Even though money was tight, that was enough to drive me to get cable. I let you in on a little tip. HBO wouldn’t interupt Terminator 2 even if India lobbed a few nukes at Pakistan. They know we don’t care. That makes it well worth it in my book. I just locked the TV on old HBO an threw away the remote so I won’t ever have that problem again. One other thing. I sympathize with you and all but that shuttle thing happened like 15 years ago. I don’t know why you are getting all worked up about it now. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/13 "2003-02-05T17:09:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shagnasty \* > \*\*I hear ya dude. Back when 911 happened or 119, whatever they called it, all I remember was that the TV was fucked up for days. Now don’t get me wrong, seeing some big buildings fall down somewhere is cool the first 10 or 15 times you see it but that gets old pretty fast. I don’t sit around the house all day just so I can see the same damn thing over and over. I need stimulation. I need variety. The worst part was that they even scheduled some damn “tribute” and “memorial” services at night when the good shows come on. Can’t they put those on at like 5:00 in the morning when only the old people are up? They are probably the only ones that want to watch that stuff anyway. > > Even though money was tight, that was enough to drive me to get cable. I let you in on a little tip. HBO wouldn’t interupt Terminator 2 even if India lobbed a few nukes at Pakistan. They know we don’t care. That makes it well worth it in my book. I just locked the TV on old HBO an threw away the remote so I won’t ever have that problem again. > > One other thing. I sympathize with you and all but that shuttle thing happened like 15 years ago. I don’t know why you are getting all worked up about it now. \*\* Man I hope thats either one big fucking whoosh, or you are flameproof. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/14 "2003-02-05T17:35:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shagnasty \* > \*\* HBO wouldn’t interupt Terminator 2 even if India lobbed a few nukes at Pakistan. They know we don’t care. That makes it well worth it in my book. I just locked the TV on old HBO an threw away the remote so I won’t ever have that problem again. > \*\* Whoosh or no, I’d just like to point out that when the Gulf War was declared/announced/started, HBO did run a crawl across the bottom of the screen during a movie letting people know that war had been declared and for them to tune to their local news channels for details. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/15 "2003-02-05T17:40:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*Man I hope thats either one big fucking whoosh, or you are flameproof. \*\* I’m pretty sure **Shagnasty’s** post was dripping with sarcasm, to show what an idiot the OP sounded like. But I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/16 "2003-02-05T18:34:01Z")
Fuck you, **Ralph**. Chunks of astronauts are still being found over a couple states. Most of them had children. The disaster was watched by thousands of people, many _with_ their children. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/17 "2003-02-05T18:43:55Z")
I think the point the OP is getting at is that after 9-11 we are all pretty mch griefed out but the media will no doubt be showing replays of the crash ad-nauseum to the point where none of us will be able to even watch TV at all without seeing the replay dozens of times when once a day would be more than enough. Obsession over grief just isnt healthy and we are perfectly capable of grieving on our own without the medias help thank-you-very-much. ---
**Author:** ![Grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@Grasshopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grasshopper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/18 "2003-02-05T18:47:27Z")
Actually, I kind of agree with the OP, and here’s why - When the Columbine shootings happened, I was 16 and I was really bothered by it - the summer before, my family had almost moved to Littleton. I’m not sure if I would have gone to Columbine or not, but it was an option, and the shootings spooked me. In my English class the next day, I talked with my teacher about it, I told her how it had really upset me, and I was really hurting for the victims and the community. What she told me is some of the best advice I think I’ve ever received. She said it’s okay to empathize sometimes, but keep in mind that this wasn’t your grief. This didn’t happen to you or to people you know, and you’re not going to lessen their grief by grieving yourself. You’ll get your own pain later, and you’ll have enough of your own pain; you can’t trouble yourself to feel other people’s pain because you’ll just wear yourself out. So as sad as the explosion was, the astronauts weren’t people I knew, and their families aren’t people I know. I think a lot of people are trying to grieve for those families when it isn’t their place to. …stepping off the soapbox now… ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/19 "2003-02-05T18:47:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anamorphic \* > \*\*I’m pretty sure **Shagnasty’s** post was dripping with sarcasm, to show what an idiot the OP sounded like. But I could be wrong. \*\* I’ve been working on sharpening my whoosh detector, but these days I’m not surprised by much. ---
**Author:** ![Infectious\_Lass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Infectious\_Lass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infectious_Lass)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933/20 "2003-02-05T19:22:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beagle \* > Chunks of astronauts are still being found over a couple states. Most of them had children. The disaster was watched by thousands of people, many _with_ their children. \*\* Four of them had children, that means just under half had children, not most. Why does the fact that children were watching make it any more tragic? Most children don’t comprehend the enormity of the tragedy and will forget it straight away, being more concerned with the next cookie or orange juice. Fact is, most children are very self-centred and don’t comprehend the suffering of people other than themselves. This is a normal part of human development, the evolving of empathy for other people is a part of growing up. Be more concerned for the adults who lost their lives, than with some anonymous kids who don’t care anyway. 'Cos believe me, they don’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-sick-of-shuttle-mourning-grief/152933.md?page=2)