Seems I'm writing about television lately. When you're in a precarious state of health, it's all too tempting to write and work from a comfortable chair than to sit at a desk. So sue me. I've always been able to do several things at once; I was one of those kids who could watch TV, listen to the radio, talk on the phone and do my homework simultaneously, while writing a new song on my guitar.One of the things I've noticed of late is certain channels' predilection for sensationalizing so-called Acts of God: Mega-Disasters, It Could Happen Tomorrow, Last Days On Earth and Countdown To Doomsday, not to mention all of the disaster movies, which I won't bother to list because there are too damned many. And let's not forget all of the shows about the predictions of Nostradamus.
I propose that America is suffering from Henny Penny Syndrome, released upon us by the government to keep us in a state of fear so that we can't focus all of our attention on the corruption that has been given free reign amongst our national leaders. After all, there are greater, more pressing problems that we need to -- and can -- work out than worrying about the comet that MIGHT take us all out in 2013 IF it swerves so many degrees in the RIGHT direction, or the tsunami that MIGHT wipe out the entire eastern seaboard IF a certain mountain in Africa has a landslide in just the precise direction, at a particular speed.
But I hate politics and this isn't a political post. I just want to say that there are many mega-beneficial acts that nature performs, and it didn't happen yesterday, did it? And let's face it, nature isn't about or for us. It just is. Sometimes we're just in the wrong place at the wrong time and if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. There's nothing we can really do, so why fill our psyches with fear and worry?
Some people really do sit up worrying about these things. I'm not talking about those who have survived a disaster, or are in serious danger of something tragic happening in their area, I'm talking people who have nothing better to do than attach their fear of death (i.e. fear of life) to things they can't control. I know, because I'm one of those who, when a tsunami or an earthquake, or something of that nature happens, sits in front of the telly and watches the news with troubling fascination. There are some people who allow their fears to result in agoraphobia, and that's sad, because there are so many great things out there in nature and an individual's chances of being hit by a natural disaster are actually very small.
Being a native southern Californian, living in Tornado Alley for the past seven years has been good for me. I've been through countless earthquakes, so I know that most of them are barely even felt. In my 55 years only one earthquake I've experienced did any "damage". A picture fell off the wall. And I've yet to see a tornado. I stay aware when spring and fall come around, but I don't focus on the "what ifs". Preparation, not phobic self-torture, is best.
Growing up in Tornado Alley, I have never been terribly frightened, but rather fascinated by tornadoes. Even when the big May 3rd, 1999 tornadoes struck the state of Oklahoma, (necessitating that the Fugita Scale which measures tornadoes according to damage capacity, be upgraded to include F6), I was more fascinated than frightened. I even stood in the street in front of my house in Anadarko and watched as one of the damned things passed right by us, towards Chickasha, and on to become the F6, over-mile-wide-at-the-base monster that devastated Midwest & Oklahoma Cities and surrounding areas.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager, an F3 hit Stillwater, and I watched in utter awe and fascination from my front porch as it tore the steeple off of the OSU campus fire station, (I later learned that it dropped it in my boyfriend's front yard). That was in 1977. Stillwater hasn't been hit by a tornado since then. They all seem to either stop just west of us, or split up and go around us.
I remember the F5-plus, or whatever it was. The entire neighborhood had gone dark, and I decided to go outside and observe, reasoning that if something's going to kill me, dammit, I'm going to watch. (Knowing Lynette was thinking something similar makes me feel a little better about it.) The storm came to within about 600 yards of my front door.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to say that I think everyone ought to go play storm chaser, but life is too short to waste time huddling in a closet worrying about things that you can't do much of anything about.
I'll never again live in your part of the country, primarily because of my experiences with tornadoes when I was very small. I still have a visceral reaction even when there's a strong wind and no amount of rational thought will ever get rid of it. We choose our potential disasters. Some people freak out at the thought of an earthquake. They shouldn't live in California or Washington. And some people are only happy when they have something to worry about.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if your weather is as alarmist as the weather here, but two of our local weather teams call themselves the "sevear weather center," so that any small storm is suddenly hurricane, 2007. I can't watch them and their reporting is useless because they cry wolf all of the time. I'm expecting a weather security code rating any day now.
ReplyDeleteGive me earthquakes over tornadoes any day! Tornadoes caus A LOT of destruction and death and, while earthquakes can be deadly and destructive, they can be planned for and haven't taken nearly as many lives in the US.
ReplyDeleteOn the History Channel:
ReplyDeleteFootage of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Voice-over:
"Mega Disasters: It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when."
It's that kind of crap I'm talking about.
Oh, yes. It is really stupid that they push fear on us. Obviously, though, fear sells. The only way that this sort of thing would stop would be if people didn't watch it.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the people who watch this stuff are the same people who buy those nature films that are nothing but animals killing each other.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, all of the "When Animals Attack" and "Shark Attack, 2007" crap really irks me. Whatever happened to nature shows that actually showed one nature? Sure, there were lions eating whatever they could get, but that showed life on the safari and it wasn't an animal snuff film in the guise of education.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, I really don't need to see people REALLY being killed. When the hell did that become legal in this country? We can't see two people of the same sex kiss or hold hands, but we can see a real human being mamed or killed. WTF?
I don't know if I blame "Faces of Death," which was the first real, legal, snuff film I think, or if I blame America's Funniest Home Videos. Okay, I blame the latter, which are nothing more than excuses for watching people hurt themselves, which is never funny to me. That is the first step toward a gladiatorial cruelty.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you concerning America's Funniest Home Videos, PSM. Every time we watch that show, Steph and I end up commenting at least a half-a-dozen times that we didn't think "that one" was funny because it looked like the person got hurt.
ReplyDelete