jamie and i may be disagreeing in the comments section of my “home again, home again” post, but we both agree on this: the media was over the top. here’s a shirt design suggestion from her:
i survived […] hurricane rita
so even if she doesn’t understand why it’s okay to compare these events to the boy crying wolf, she knows the media went overboard.
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![i survived […] hurricane rita](http://fhlostoncreative.com/images/ritashirt.gif){kind=link}
I guess that it is “over the top” for the media to predict that the destruction of neighboring communities will an inconvenience to fashionably self deprecating bloggers? Perhaps you could manufacture dozens of these shirts for those whose wardrobes were destroyed by the hurricane? Perhaps not. Maybe your observations about the media being overboard would be of comfort to those who cannot return home or survey the damage to everything that is theirs? I guess those, like you, who weathered the storm at Houston hotels had a different perspective to those who lost their homes in Southeast Texas or are forbidden by law to return to their homes due to extensive damage? Oh, but I guess it is far easier to wax hipsterly about hype than to acknowledge that those in towns you have never heard of have lost their homes, possessions, or access to their personal items?
I’m eagerly awaiting your “I survived Hurricane Tamara” t-shirts, but that would schadenfreude, wouldn’t it? I’d hate to make light of the suffering of others. But, wait, isn’t that what you have been doing?
Making light of annoying people that work in televised media has nothing to do with being uncompassionate about true human tragedies. The t-shirt and comments made about the media are not a commentary about my feelings regarding what happened to all of the people that were impacted by the hurricane. I feel pretty much the same way you appear to feel. I had a front row seat to witness the emotional devastation that this hurricane induced and I have seen what it has left in its wake. This is not anything to make light of nor is it anything to falsely accuse people of making light of. It is a true tragedy, and I relate to it as such.
But the media coverage crap we are talking about has to do with the shenanigans of local media as they attmepted to try to find way to justify being on the air ~24 hours a day for 4 days. That was too much, over the top, too glitzed out and over-hyped. Even the people that I know that stood to be
severly impacted by the hurricane, thought it was ridiculous. Are the people that you know
that were devastated by the storm really that thankful that Channel 13 had the coolest weather screen graphics?
Was it very meaningful/useful/helpful to them to be able to watch reporter X stand for 48 hours straight on I-45? Or to watch reporter after reporter attempt to remain standing in 70 mph winds? “Oh look! It is whatshername again, she is STILL standing in the rain and it is STILL windy. Imagine that! Good thing the news is STILL on so I can see her do that again for the 100 millionth time because I didn’t quite catch that it was windy and raining the first 99 million times I saw it!”. And all of the useless “what if” scenarios….complete with amazing graphics. When they started telling people exactly what range of wind to expect and exactly how to prepare for it in [erroneously] named locations two days before it even hit – this is about 5 minutes after they should have turned off the camera and gone home. They all seemed to forget that they can not accurately predict what is going to happen (all-the-while *saying* that they can’t predict what is going to happen) so why did they keep trying to? Why? Because the camera was still on and they didn’t know what else to do with their time.
This kind of crap was unnecessary. This is what is to be made light of.
Please report the facts. Tell people what they need to know. Then go home. That is all I am saying.
congratulations are in order! this is my first intelligible “flame” comment! sadly, despite the claims of “mithras”, i’ve never really been known as hip. further, my self-deprecation isn’t just fashion — i was self-deprecating way before it was cool. but i appreciate his attempts — it’s so thoughtful to deprecate me so i don’t have to. 😉
to start off, one thing i don’t recall is anything in the mithras mythology about him riding a high horse. 😐 do take note of his obvious intelligence though — big words used appropriately, esoteric religious references, snarky satire…this comment’s got it all (and is rather fashionably hip, truth be told). a thesaurus alone couldn’t possibly get someone that far. however, the emotional tragedy angle does not validate or strengthen his position – it merely polarizes the discussion and obfuscates the facts. (but then perhaps our ornery god knew that.)
basically, me making light of my own personal situation does not in any way mean i am making light of the situations of others in other areas (or even necessarily in my own area). nor does it mean i can’t also have concern or compassion about any particular situation, even the one i am making light of. (i make jokes about a lot of things i care deeply about and/or believe strongly.) further, my sarcastic attacks on the media do not by proxy have me attacking (or ignoring) those in rita’s path.
this blog is about my personal experiences and opinions. oddly enough, those kind of blogs tend to be a bit self-centered. it’s really that simple. if i choose to talk about the events or lives of other people i can, but for the most part this is my perspectives about things around me in my life and how they affect me or how i see them. it is unfair to extrapolate my commentary on my own personal experiences and interpret them as if i am speaking for or about something larger. or to assume that if i don’t talk about something else or others that i don’t care. i think that should be obvious, but perhaps gods that have been forgotten over the centuries have a grudge about such things.
what mithras has done would be the equivalent of me mocking and tearing into the poor fellow because he was talking about hurricanes and suffering in his comment but never bothered to mention the victims of hurricane katrina…should i conclude that he doesn’t care about them? heartless b4st4rd.
and as for the shirt…has mithras really never seen shirts saying “i survived [insert thing here]”? (heat wave, hurricane, etc.) i’ve already seen katrina and rita shirts on cafepress.com. (even one for the kids that says “i rode rita”.) do such shirts take joy in the suffering of others? i hope it’s obvious the answer should be “no”.
for what it’s worth, i did survive (at least thus far) hurricane tamara …but i lost half of everything. 🙂 i don’t want the bull-slayer commiting schnauzerfraud anymore than he does. for the record, my understanding of “schadenfreude” is more accurately described as taking pleasure in the misery of others, not just making light of it. there’s a difference between joking about something and actually deriving some kind of emotional pleasure from the suffering itself.
here’s a deal: point out specifically where i derived malicious pleasure from the real suffering of others, and i will gladly make an apology and retraction. while i may joke about things, i am not generally known for being malicious…insensitive at times perhaps, maybe a bit sarcastic, but not malicious. given the acerbic, sarcastic style and eloquent wordcrafting our god-buddy mithras displayed, i’m surprised he couldn’t easily grasp that.
mithras — please note that if your lack of objectivity and your not giving me the benefit of the doubt is due to personal involvement for yourself or through family, i can be understanding even if i don’t agree with your analysis of me and what i’ve written. please take that into consideration when reading this response. if, however, this is just another person who belittles others as a kneejerk reaction of righteous indignation because you think someone else doesn’t have the right amount of compassion or concern like you do…well, i’m sorry. you’re attacks are unfounded, misguided, and you’re really no better than the imaginary person you’ve created to lash out at.
Hmm…
I kinda felt sad for the fool writing at the time. He wasn’t probably thinking about others misery as wishing for his own, right? Not exactly the fool I have known for a while, but for some reason I think he probably wished the hurricane on himself and was disappointed. I’m not sure why, maybe I’m wrong and he wasn’t really flaunting fate. Maybe he was just hoping for a little dance with Rita so he could warm up his barrel? Myself, I had 4 clips ready 🙂 Or maybe he’s just trying to stir the fire and see what Ashes pop out???
Just another article over and on to the next one:
No one has mentioned the *cold* front coming that can cause mass panic, freezing pipes, lack of heating oil, and triple-dog-dares resulting in tongues stuck to flagpoles everywhere….
pity from trueblade? how novel. 🙂
yes, i personally was interested in experiencing a hurricane. a hurricane is a natural event and they happen and it’s going to land somewhere, and i think it would be interesting to experience one. which doesn’t mean i’m wishing for it to cause me misery, i am just intrigued. my desire to experience it for myself also doesn’t translate to anything about my desires (or lack thereof) related to others or their lives or properties or anything else. i will admit that my willingness to experience it is probably affected by my lack of attachment or responsibility to anyone or anything. no matter what i’d be interested in it, but my willingness and/or ability to do so might very well be affected.
i personally had two clips ready. but i wasn’t at my house. in fact, that’s about the only hurricane prep i did, other than unplugging electronics and moving my computer equipment that was next to some windows into a safer area.
as for the cold front…i’ve not been watching tv news, but based on their handling of rita it wouldn’t surprise me if the above pretty accurately models their on-air presentation.