| From: | shadowrn@*********.com (Hahns Shin) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | [OT] What to do... |
| Date: | Wed Sep 12 01:10:02 2001 |
>
> I know I'm just full of OT tonight. I wish I weren't.
>
> I have a beautiful young daughter who, fortunately, is too young
to
> realize that anything is going on. But I'm curious about what those
of
> you who do have children old enough are telling them? What do they
> think? Am I getting too personal in this?
If I had children, I would take the time to tell the about darkness
and light. That the world is full of those who do bad things and the
world is also full of people who do good things. That sometimes the
bad guys win and sometimes the good guys win. That one person can do
things that can hurt thousands, even millions, of people, but that
same person can also help thousands and millions of people. True, this
is not exactly giving the complex nature of our world much credit or
description. But you have to explain the extremes before you can
tackle the in-betweens. And this attack was certainly an extreme. I do
not envy the position of any parent who has to explain tragedy to
their child... we rationalize explanations and create abstract
situations in class, but the real deal is always far different. It is
like explaining your first death on the table to a family... is there
really a good way to do it?
I just got to class when I heard about it. Our campus was pretty much
shut down for the day... we had a medical case study, but we finished
it in less than 30 minutes (we usually take 2 hours). Many of us went
home to call family, friends. A group of us sat in the lounge,
flipping channels to watch the news coverage. I live in Gary, so we
are REAL close to Chicago, and many of the students who live in the
area have family/friends who were being evacuated from the Sears
Tower, Hancock Tower, etc. We were watching history unfold, a terrible
event to be sure, but one that would change our way of thinking about
the world.
When I think of this event, I think of the fated souls who decided to
wreck incredible evil on people who may or may not have deserved it.
Then, I think of people like Mother Theresa, who spent her life humbly
helping thousands upon thousands of people regardless of their
station. I think of her because in some way, she is the same as those
poor fated souls. On one hand, you can choose to destroy thousands. On
the other, you can choose to save thousands. It is the choice for the
latter that brings me hope in the face of the atrocities that we
humans inflict on ourselves. I do not know what drives people to
darkness, faith and religion aside. But I do know that regardless of
your faith or creed, we can choose to do good in this world.
My prayers go to those who have lost family and friends, for their
loss and their grief. My prayers also go to those who are responsible
for this tragedy even more, that they may find their way out of
darkness. Finally, my prayers also go to the rescuers, that they may
find a candle of hope in the face of darkness.
Also, in a more professional note, the AMA is canvassing volunteers
among physicians to help in this emergency (it'll be kind of hard for
anyone not in the DC or NY area, considering all the planes are
grounded). If you know any physician who would like to volunteer for
supporting services, e-mail mike_lynch@********.org or call (312)
464-4584 or (312) 464-4422. The AMA and the American Red Cross are
also looking for volunteers to donate blood or help in blood drives.
Since blood is no longer locally held by the Red Cross (at least,
according to my coordinator), any blood you donate can help the relief
efforts going on right now. If you wish to volunteer, call the Red
Cross at 1-800-448-3543. I'm right now involved (as of today, anyway)
in a local campus blood drive, and I'm sure every campus in the US
will be holding something similar, so they will need volunteers.
Hahns Shin, MS II
Budding cybersurgeon
