Infuriating cases of people who don't understand tragedy

[PapaBear]

I know... Horrible thread title. I couldn't think of anything else.

Judge Smails and I posted in the 10 years later thread about people who just "don't get" tragic events. It reminded me of another case that's not 9/11 related, and I don't want to derail that thread.

I just remembered something that infuriated me that day (besides the attacks). I was working at Wal Mart. The electronics department had the coverage on all of the TV's. This NEVER happens at Wal Mart. 99.9% of the shoppers and employees were in the typical 9/11 state of shock.

Then I see this one family. They were the poster children for fat, disgusting, white trash idiots, shopping to their heart's content. The 300lbs+ mother points to the wall of TV's and says, "Look. That's that building that fell down today." Thankfully, management announced that all non essential staff could go home to be with family about ten minutes later. If I had seen anyone else like that bitch, I might have lost my shit.

Along the lines of what Papabear said - As I mentioned I was at a conference in Philadelphia. During a break a receptionist mentioned that a plane hit the WTC. Everyone crowded around her radio to hear the news. I headed down to the street to this stock-ticker place that I had seen earlier with a bunch of t.v.'s in the window running news and stock info.

When I got there there was a big crowd watching the coverage. I still hadn't realized what a big deal this was - having been out of the loop to that point. I was looking at the t.v. and there was only one tower. It looked like the shot was taken from some distance and I couldn't figure out how they managed to only get one tower in the frame. Maybe I didn't want to believe what I was seeing but I finally asked a guy "what happened to the other tower?" and he nonchalantly says "oh, that one fell down."

It was at that point that the magnitude of what happened struck me all at once and, no offense to Philly, but I knew each tower was more than twice as tall as the tallest building in Philly and this wasn't something to be nonchalant about. Like I said in my previous post, it wasn't until news of the Shanksville, PA crash came through that everyone in Philly seemed to start to lose their shit too.

I was in a bar in Richmond, VA watching the coverage of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Everyone was there to watch the World Series. It was still fairly early on, so much of the coverage was still from the ballpark. But it was already very clear that this was a devastating event, in which there would be many deaths. At one point, some asshole starts screaming at the TV, "shut up about the earthquake and play the damn game!" Everyone in the bar ended up yelling at the guy until he left.

[StanUpshaw]

Every day across the globe there are dozens of tragedies that you don't give a fuck about.

Maybe you should ask yourself why only certain ones meet your give-a-fuck threshold.

[PapaBear]

Every day across the globe there are dozens of tragedies that you don't give a fuck about.

Maybe you should ask yourself why certain ones meet your give-a-fuck threshold.
That's not the point. I'm talking about events that people are witnessing, and it's something they can relate to (even if it's on TV), and there's only one person who doesn't get it. Saying "don't give a fuck about" is total bullshit.

[StanUpshaw]

So it's not so much that they can't understand tragedy, but that they have difficulty understanding social cues and blending in accordingly?

[PapaBear]

So it's not so much that they can't understand tragedy, but that they have difficulty understanding social cues and blending in accordingly?
It means that they are part of a society, but don't care about anything in that society that doesn't pertain to themselves. A society does not encompass the entire world.

[StanUpshaw]

I see what you mean now.

tragedy=dead whites.

[PapaBear]

I see what you mean now.

tragedy=dead whites.
That's one of the most retarded things you've ever said. You're implying that everyone who is effected by tragedies in the US are white. Let me put it in terms you may understand better.

A global Internet virus has struck. It's deleting all evidence of underage girls from every hard drive, of everyone in your social network. You (and everyone like you) is totally distraught. Then some asshole jumps in and says, "shut up and show more PBS!"

[StanUpshaw]

Again with the personal attacks.

Who watches the watchmen?

[TripleSkeet]

In response to your quote from Smails. What exactly is the right way to answer that question? He sees one tower, asked what happened to the other one, and the guy says "Oh it fell down." What is he supposed to say? "Look maybe you should sit down first, what Im going to tell you isnt easy to say..."? I wouldve said the same thing. Its not like the person was laughing about it.

[sailor]

In response to your quote from Smails. What exactly is the right way to answer that question? He sees one tower, asked what happened to the other one, and the guy says "Oh it fell down." What is he supposed to say? "Look maybe you should sit down first, what Im going to tell you isnt easy to say..."? I wouldve said the same thing. Its not like the person was laughing about it.

i imagine it had more to do with the tone than the actual words.

[Tenbatsuzen]

How about this:

It's time to move on. Period.

[Sinestro]

Again with the personal attacks.

Who watches the watchmen?

I don't get it.

[Dude!]

I don't get it.

come on...
it doesn't take a weatherman
to know which way the wind blows

[TripleSkeet]

i imagine it had more to do with the tone than the actual words.

Thats ridiculous.

[Dude!]

Sailor specializes in ridiculous

[cougarjake13]

Again with the personal attacks.

Who watches the watchmen?

who makes watches any more ??

[cougarjake13]

In response to your quote from Smails. What exactly is the right way to answer that question? He sees one tower, asked what happened to the other one, and the guy says "Oh it fell down." What is he supposed to say? "Look maybe you should sit down first, what Im going to tell you isnt easy to say..."? I wouldve said the same thing. Its not like the person was laughing about it.

well heres my 2 cents

i think the proximity to the disaster has to be taken into effect


to those who lived in nyc when it happened we seemed to be more affected then those who lived outside of nyc or wash where the plane hit the pentagon


for a lot of the people who i work with now down here in florida, who were here in fla when it happened didnt really bother them , had no family to worry bout and it was 1200 miles away

to them it was a tradegy and sucked but for most part they went about their day like it was a normal tuesday

[CountryBob]

well heres my 2 cents

i think the proximity to the disaster has to be taken into effect


to those who lived in nyc when it happened we seemed to be more affected then those who lived outside of nyc or wash where the plane hit the pentagon


for a lot of the people who i work with now down here in florida, who were here in fla when it happened didnt really bother them , had no family to worry bout and it was 1200 miles away

to them it was a tradegy and sucked but for most part they went about their day like it was a normal tuesday

I live in TN and when the first plane hit - every business shut down and all went home to watch the horror and also to find out whats happening. By the next day, flags started popping up everywhere. We were with everyone this affected (in spirit) - not a normal Tuesday.

[Rhah]

Half of our society is becoming less and less empathetic every day. When people cheer on live television about the number of executions a state performs or cheer when a candidate is asked if he would let an uninsured child die in the hospital, and he responds yes and gets cheers, it is a sad regressive day for our country. Half of the country is definitely holding us back when it comes to humanitarian efforts/feelings/attitudes.

So really, wanting to watch a "game" instead of a coverage of human suffering (that might spark some people to help and donate) is not surprising...

btw, if it was super bow or even a regular season NFL game, I bet you get more than just one guy :devil2:

[JimBeam]

well heres my 2 cents

i think the proximity to the disaster has to be taken into effect


to those who lived in nyc when it happened we seemed to be more affected then those who lived outside of nyc or wash where the plane hit the pentagon


for a lot of the people who i work with now down here in florida, who were here in fla when it happened didnt really bother them , had no family to worry bout and it was 1200 miles away

to them it was a tradegy and sucked but for most part they went about their day like it was a normal tuesday

This is the thing that's been bothering me about the whole hat controversy.

Sure it shouldn't have been an issue to just let the Mets wear the hats and by no means should've been a time for anybody to make a stand.

But the thought that anybody would feel better or the tragedy would be any less because Jose Reyes was wearing an FDNY hat is complete nonsense.

The whole " look I'm wearing the hat " thing screams of wanting attention.

If you're a player and/or a team and you really want to make a difference for people impacted by 9/11 then donate to any number of charities for it.

Even if you are already giving give more because it means a whole lot more than wearing a hat.

Stephen A Smith said it best, and he's a guy who rarely says anything worth a damn, when he said that NYer can't look at 9/11 as a NYC only thing because the people who have since gone to war to avenge that and prevent other attacks are from many more places than NYC.

[JimBeam]

Let's also not discount the fact that we as a society, not just Americans I'm sure, get entranced by tragedies.

Look at the recent cases in the news where the media covered it 24 hours a day.

1 child dies, and that's a horrible thing, but that same day who knows how many other children died that didn't make Nancy Grace's stupid show.

[JohnGacysCrawlSpace]

tragedy + time = comedy

[keithy_19]

btw, if it was super bow or even a regular season NFL game, I bet you get more than just one guy :devil2:

http://obit-mag.com/media/image/Bowing-Man.jpg

[StanUpshaw]

http://i.imgur.com/Di8Tm.png

[Justice4all]

well heres my 2 cents

i think the proximity to the disaster has to be taken into effect


to those who lived in nyc when it happened we seemed to be more affected then those who lived outside of nyc or wash where the plane hit the pentagon


for a lot of the people who i work with now down here in florida, who were here in fla when it happened didnt really bother them , had no family to worry bout and it was 1200 miles away

to them it was a tradegy and sucked but for most part they went about their day like it was a normal tuesday

I agree to an extent CJ but I think those of us who lived in either NYC or close to were hardest hit (emotionally speaking) because we could actually go and SEE the smoke rising from Ground Zero. The effect lingered more with us (and with those who were in DC) than anywhere else. I don't think 3 weeks later life in Texas or Colorado was as tense as it was in the Northern NJ/NYC area. Again, except for DC.

[sailor]

I agree to an extent CJ but I think those of us who lived in either NYC or close to were hardest hit (emotionally speaking) because we could actually go and SEE the smoke rising from Ground Zero. The effect lingered more with us (and with those who were in DC) than anywhere else. I don't think 3 weeks later life in Texas or Colorado was as tense as it was in the Northern NJ/NYC area. Again, except for DC.

i worked in a hotel on 38th street and months later you could still SMELL the burning in the stairwell.

[Kublakhan61]

Every day across the globe there are dozens of tragedies that you don't give a fuck about.

Maybe you should ask yourself why only certain ones meet your give-a-fuck threshold.

In response to your quote from Smails. What exactly is the right way to answer that question? He sees one tower, asked what happened to the other one, and the guy says "Oh it fell down." What is he supposed to say? "Look maybe you should sit down first, what Im going to tell you isnt easy to say..."? I wouldve said the same thing. Its not like the person was laughing about it.

Guys, I think what you're missing here is that what's being asked for is a slight bit of empathy. While most of us don't think twice about an overseas tragedy if asked "what happened?" on the morning of the Japanese earlthquake/tsunami or the day of the Haiti earthquake hopefully we'd not only offer whatever info we had but we would put aside our cynical, nonchalant attitudes and address the situation with some class.

"Oh, it fell down" lacks any empathy - that's the issue. It's also not what happened. "Oh, it was knocked down" might be a better response because it's more accurate... though it still lacks empathy. It's not about falling in line and feeling the same as everyone else, it's about not being a sociopath.

How about this:

It's time to move on. Period.

You're just an uncool dude, you know that?

[TripleSkeet]

I agree to an extent CJ but I think those of us who lived in either NYC or close to were hardest hit (emotionally speaking) because we could actually go and SEE the smoke rising from Ground Zero. The effect lingered more with us (and with those who were in DC) than anywhere else. I don't think 3 weeks later life in Texas or Colorado was as tense as it was in the Northern NJ/NYC area. Again, except for DC.

I understand that, and I understand why people would get upset if they heard others joking about it, I just dont get the whole "youre not upset enough!" mentality. It was like I said originally, if someone asked where the 1st tower was, and the reply was "it fell down". I dont see that as being insulting or not understanding tragedy. Its the answer to the question you just asked, unless its delivered with giggling theres no reason to be upset with the person.

[Zorro]

On 9/11 my bother a NYC Firefighter was missing. Sort of freaked I let the employees go home and closed the office early. It never dawned on me to switch the voicemail. We just left.

Early that evening my brother was located and was fine. at about 10pm I went back to the office just to make sure we had locked up etc and checked the voicemail. There was one message left at 5:46pm. The message said (from memory) "Your message says the office closes at 6 o'clock and I'm looking at my watch and it's not six o'clock yet. When you people feel like working again call me, but I will have probably already gone to someone that does what they say they do"

[cougarjake13]

I agree to an extent CJ but I think those of us who lived in either NYC or close to were hardest hit (emotionally speaking) because we could actually go and SEE the smoke rising from Ground Zero. The effect lingered more with us (and with those who were in DC) than anywhere else. I don't think 3 weeks later life in Texas or Colorado was as tense as it was in the Northern NJ/NYC area. Again, except for DC.

and that was my point ... i lived in nyc from birth til 2004


and like u said 3 weeks later that still affected us

and the guys i work with down here pretty much said that it was just a newstory like any other from other places around the world but not near them

sad tradegy but not all important to their lives



heres another example .... when katrina happened it sure as hell affected those people a lot more and lingered then for me or u

[keithy_19]

Early that evening my brother was located and was fine. at about 10pm I went back to the office just to make sure we had locked up etc and checked the voicemail. There was one message left at 5:46pm. The message said (from memory) "Your message says the office closes at 6 o'clock and I'm looking at my watch and it's not six o'clock yet. When you people feel like working again call me, but I will have probably already gone to someone that does what they say they do"

What a dick that guy is. Really dumb too.

[TripleSkeet]

and that was my point ... i lived in nyc from birth til 2004


and like u said 3 weeks later that still affected us

and the guys i work with down here pretty much said that it was just a newstory like any other from other places around the world but not near them

sad tradegy but not all important to their lives



heres another example .... when katrina happened it sure as hell affected those people a lot more and lingered then for me or u

Exactly. No matter how big a tragedy is, its always going to affect those closest to it then it would people from further away. Thats just human nature, you cant get mad at people for that.

[keithy_19]

Exactly. No matter how big a tragedy is, its always going to affect those closest to it then it would people from further away. Thats just human nature, you cant get mad at people for that.

What's interesting about the attacks of 9/11 are that while people in other areas of the country weren't effected in the same capacity, their lives have still been changed because of it.

[TripleSkeet]

What's interesting about the attacks of 9/11 are that while people in other areas of the country weren't effected in the same capacity, their lives have still been changed because of it.

Everybodies lives have been changed from it. Just look at taking a flight. Non-stop hassle. Being patted down at every sporting event, even if you work there. Its forced the country to put up these illusions of security just so that the sheep feel safer. If the terrorist wanted to change America with their 9/11 plan, I dont know how anyone can argue that they accomplished their mission.

[WRESTLINGFAN]

When the next one happens, just wait. If you think security is over the top now it will be nothing if theres a Madrid type attack or an IED goes off.

[TripleSkeet]

When the next one happens, just wait. If you think security is over the top now it will be nothing if theres a Madrid type attack or an IED goes off.

Im not surprised. People dont want the truth. That theres no way to guara ntee safety. If thats what you want, just become a shut in. Ever go to an NFL game? I could walk into any stadium with a bomb strapped around my chest and make it through the patdown without a problem. Amazing how easy it is to make people "feel" like theyre safe.

[WRESTLINGFAN]

Im not surprised. People dont want the truth. That theres no way to guara ntee safety. If thats what you want, just become a shut in. Ever go to an NFL game? I could walk into any stadium with a bomb strapped around my chest and make it through the patdown without a problem. Amazing how easy it is to make people "feel" like theyre safe.

It just happened recently when the Cowboys fan had the TASR. Even with top down security all it takes is 1 person

[WRESTLINGFAN]

The odds of being killed in a terror attack are less than dying in an automotive accident. Its way down the list of other fatalities

[StanUpshaw]

Pat down every driver.

[Jujubees2]

Pat down every driver.

Keep your stinking hands off me...

http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/0807/nfl.packers.training.camp/images/donald-driver.jpg

[StanUpshaw]

It would have been funnier if you said "don't touch my junk"

[cougarjake13]

Exactly. No matter how big a tragedy is, its always going to affect those closest to it then it would people from further away. Thats just human nature, you cant get mad at people for that.

i wasnt

just merely trying to offer an explanation

[cougarjake13]

It would have been funnier if you said "don't touch my junk"

i heard that in my head to the voice of the dont taze me bro guy