Hello! I felt the need to post here and I'm afraid it's going to be a post that pisses people off.
Why you might ask? Well see, I live in Boston. And Boston got "bombed" yesterday. More accurately boston got some crazy asshole deciding it would be fun to blow things and people up (I only assume this as an organized syndicate would have proudly claimed responsibility by now).
Tragic. Horrific. I did feel my chest tighten. I felt real sympathy toward those involved. I put myself in the shoes of being a friend or a loved one, or god forbid - someone hurt. It is incredibly horrible and it happened here. A place of safety even when 9/11 happened, and wars, and earthquakes. Yeah, boston is a nice cocoon.
But something happened to me in the past 15 years or so that doesn't happen to a lot of people. I lived in a city that was terrorized. Where people are terrorized daily based on their gender, their religion, their race. I lived in a daily environment where we needed to rebuild cell sites due to terrorists bombing them. Where 2 hours away in Pune, bombs exploded. Where I would walk down the street and see the remnants of the terror attacks a few short months earlier.
I see all the internet Memes and prayers and slogans and media outlets all saying wonderfully helpful things. Every FB post another uplifting banner or some some angry shout out to the people who committed such an act. "We are runners! Be gone evil person!" Or my favorite vein of "Boston is resilient, we are a united city, we will own you!" Cheeky and untrue as most of us spend an awful lot of our normal lives being dickheads to each other. You ever drive here? Yeah, resiliency indeed. But I get the point. It is comforting and supportive and people like it.
What I do mind is what we will not take away from this moment. One day and we are terror striken and grief ridden.
Now, take that mindset. Take it and hold it. What did you feel like last night? What did you feel like when you heard about the blast?
Now, imagine feeling that way every single day. Put yourself in the shoes of an Israli citizen being terrorized, a Palastinian being terrorized, afghanis being terrorized by drones, Sunnis being terrorized by Shia, Shia being terrorized by Sunnis, Pakastanis, Indians, Tamils, Somalis, Iranians, Syrians. Imagine that everyone you know has lost at least 1 if not more family member to violence. Imagine going to the store could result in a bomb blast. Imagine your fear for someone you knew in boston until you found them via cell or FB post...that 1 or several hours of terror. Imagine that for every second of every day of your life. Will they blow up where I get food? Where I go to school? Will they just burst into my house and kill me?
My empathy goes to every victim of every senseless tragedy.
Why you might ask? Well see, I live in Boston. And Boston got "bombed" yesterday. More accurately boston got some crazy asshole deciding it would be fun to blow things and people up (I only assume this as an organized syndicate would have proudly claimed responsibility by now).
Tragic. Horrific. I did feel my chest tighten. I felt real sympathy toward those involved. I put myself in the shoes of being a friend or a loved one, or god forbid - someone hurt. It is incredibly horrible and it happened here. A place of safety even when 9/11 happened, and wars, and earthquakes. Yeah, boston is a nice cocoon.
But something happened to me in the past 15 years or so that doesn't happen to a lot of people. I lived in a city that was terrorized. Where people are terrorized daily based on their gender, their religion, their race. I lived in a daily environment where we needed to rebuild cell sites due to terrorists bombing them. Where 2 hours away in Pune, bombs exploded. Where I would walk down the street and see the remnants of the terror attacks a few short months earlier.
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| Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai. You can see the boarded windows on the bottom floor from the blasts |
I see all the internet Memes and prayers and slogans and media outlets all saying wonderfully helpful things. Every FB post another uplifting banner or some some angry shout out to the people who committed such an act. "We are runners! Be gone evil person!" Or my favorite vein of "Boston is resilient, we are a united city, we will own you!" Cheeky and untrue as most of us spend an awful lot of our normal lives being dickheads to each other. You ever drive here? Yeah, resiliency indeed. But I get the point. It is comforting and supportive and people like it.
What I do mind is what we will not take away from this moment. One day and we are terror striken and grief ridden.
Now, take that mindset. Take it and hold it. What did you feel like last night? What did you feel like when you heard about the blast?
Now, imagine feeling that way every single day. Put yourself in the shoes of an Israli citizen being terrorized, a Palastinian being terrorized, afghanis being terrorized by drones, Sunnis being terrorized by Shia, Shia being terrorized by Sunnis, Pakastanis, Indians, Tamils, Somalis, Iranians, Syrians. Imagine that everyone you know has lost at least 1 if not more family member to violence. Imagine going to the store could result in a bomb blast. Imagine your fear for someone you knew in boston until you found them via cell or FB post...that 1 or several hours of terror. Imagine that for every second of every day of your life. Will they blow up where I get food? Where I go to school? Will they just burst into my house and kill me?
My empathy goes to every victim of every senseless tragedy.
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