Fighting Indifference, pt. 1


“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them,”

George Bernard Shaw


 

 

The gunman stood at the window looking out over the crowded streets below. Bobby paused from typing and surveyed the situation. Could he make a break for the door? What happens if he refuses to type? Maybe, he would simply charge and tackle the man, sending him crashing through the window to the street below. Something akin to an action hero would certainly do the trick. Then again, there was that gun. Knives are considered rather personal, guns seems so cold and impersonal. A sniper can shoot a complete stranger from a great distance and still remain seated at that great distance. Stabbings, though, happen at close range amongst people who can know each other. Guns seem to prevent struggles. In that case, so do bombs, missiles, torpedoes, and nuclear weapons. When a rather large bomb is dropped, there is nothing really personal about it; it simply means that people will die. We have simply become too efficient at hurting each other.

“You want out of here, don’t you?” said the gunman.
 
“Yes, sir, I do.”
 
Neither man moved and to Bobby’s surprise, the gunman never even looked over at him.

The Olympic Power of Narrative

When U.S. figure skater Mirai Nagasu took the ice in the women’s short program on Tuesday night, the cameras moved to capture her parents. This is normal for figure skaters.

So, according to my oldest son, is the story that follows.

Nagasu’s parents, who run a small family restaurant in Southern California, had their tickets paid for to the Olympics by Panasonic. The Nagasus would not have made it otherwise. Their income was too limited, their circumstances too difficult. Mrs. Nagasu, you see, has thyroid cancer. And while Mom’s prognosis is reported as “good,” the treatments she began last fall and will continue after the Olympics add a certain weight to Mirai’s competitive efforts.

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