Tag Disasters

Not Seeing Is Believing

Michael 6 Comments
I’ve never actually seen a hurricane. I was on Puerto Rico twice within a week of a hurricane having gone through and saw its aftermath. I’ve been in South Florida just before a hurricane was predicted to hit and helped secure the property.  I’ve seen flooding in Pennsylvania from hurricanes so severe when they hit the Gulf Coast the Ohio River spilled its banks 1,000 miles away. But I’ve never actually seen a hurricane. Doesn’t matter. I know what hurricanes can do to people and I’m not stupid enough to think just because I haven’t seen something first hand it won’t hurt me. I think I’ll be careful and listen to the experts about how to stay safe when a hurricane is coming.
 
I’ve never actually seen a person have a stroke. I’ve worked in health care my entire adult life and I’ve seen heart attacks, seizures, asthma attacks, people in hypoglycemia, bleeding, bruising, and shaking with fever. But I’ve never actually seen a person have a stroke. Doesn’t matter. I know what a stroke can do to a person and I’m not stupid enough to think just because I haven’t seen something first hand it won’t hurt me. I think I’ll be careful and listen to the experts about how to avoid a stroke.
 
I’ve never actually seen a car try to beat a train through a railroad crossing and lose. I’ve seen a car that lost. Fortunately I didn’t see the former occupants of the car. [Shudder] But I never actually saw a car lose its race with a train.  Doesn’t matter. I know what trains can do to people and I’m not stupid enough to think just because I haven’t seen something first it won’t hurt me. I think I’ll be careful and listen to the experts and stop, look, and listen before proceeding through a railroad crossing.
 
I’ve never actually seen a plane crash. A plane once came down 15 miles from my home. I wasn’t there at the time. I didn’t see it, I didn’t hear it. I read about it in the papers. For days after I read about it in the papers. People I know worked the scene. For days after they worked the scene. But I’ve never actually saw the plane crash. Doesn’t matter. I know what falling from the sky can do to a person and I’m not stupid enough to think just because I can’t see something first hand it won’t affect me. I’ll be careful and take what precautions I can when I have to fly. 
 
I’ve never actually seen the SARS-CoV-2 virus…
 
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And I Helped

Michael 2 Comments

A little boy was playing in his yard when he tripped and cut his knee. His sister heard him crying and ran out to him where she started crying too. Their mother, hearing the commotion, goes out to check on them and finds both of them wailing but only he seems to be hurt.

She picks him up and tells him, “We’ll just go inside and clean you up and put a bandage on that and you’ll be good as new.” She turns to her daughter and asks, “And what happened to you?”

“Nothing Mom. I’m just helping him cry.”

Not to get preaching or anything but we could learn a lot from those two. Like the sister, we’re always willing to join in and help out when disaster strikes. We only need to look at 3 hurricanes and a wildfire in a little over a month to confirm that.

But just like those young siblings, unless we see blood we’re more likely to push, shove, pinch, and otherwise cause the pain of our brothers and sisters. We only need to look at any morning’s headlines to confirm that.

Nuclear testing is back in the news after a 40 year hiatus. Casting couches are indeed as stereotypical as we were led to believe 50 years ago. Trump haters are still hating Trump supporters and Trump supporters are still hating Trump haters. Boyfriends with PFAs are killing girlfriends. Parents are killing children, presumably after bandaging their cut knees. A new record for mass killings was set. Football players want to become social compasses. Football owners want to be richer. A young police officer was shot in an ambush in New Orleans. Almost nobody outside of New Orleans knew a young police officer was shot in an ambush in New Orleans.

On the environmental front, the Yellowstone super volcano may erupt soon. It could mean the end of the world.(Really, check out the article at Country Living.) But if it doesn’t destroy life as we know it, maybe we could take this opportunity to be nice to each other before a disaster happens.