Saturday, March 03, 2007

Mother Nature is not choosy

The tornado that killed the students in Alabama has been a pretty big deal on the news. As it should be. It's a tragedy, the wrath of Mother Nature taking the lives of the kids.

What could have been done differently? First and foremost, there will always be that lingering question, what if? Or the, shoulda, coulda, woulda nagging. It is truly a sad outcome. Sure, let the kids out amidst a morning full of sirens and warnings...have them drive home or walk home unsure of what might occur within the moments of them leaving. Worse case scenario is that wrath would have come then and the school district would have come under fire for that decision.

Imagine too that the superintendent of that school is feeling a mountain of guilt and grief and wishing that he could change all the decisions he made that day! Don't forget, he too is grieving the loss of these kids who are his responsibility when on school time.

I know all too well that people who are grieving and suffering the loss of a loved one 9 times out of 10 seek out someone to blame. It's a common step in the grieving process. But the media has really taken liberties with this I think and is encouraging that step with stories that paint those in the middle of the mess as the ones to blame.

Ala. School Warned Hours Before Tornado

Why not blame the builders of the school for the deaths of these children? Or the roofers who didn't reinforce the roof? Or why not blame the parents for sending their kids to school in the first place? Or the parents for not coming to the school and picking up their kids or getting them released early? Why not blame me because I live in Minnesota?

Or, more importantly, why not look at this situation and realize that no one can predict what will be when it comes to Mother Nature. That it's always best to err on the side of safety, which I believe the school did. How in the heck were they supposed to know that the school would collapse? HOW???

One woman is quoted as saying:
"It came real fast, but they had plenty of time to get those kids out because sirens were going off all morning," said Pearl Green, whose 15-year-old niece attends the school and was hit in the head by a flying brick.
I don't know about the rules of weather in Alabama but when the sirens are going off in MN, you best well be in a safe place. And what, are the school officials supposed to send those kids home between sirens because they go off at specific intervals. "Hey kids, the siren stopped, you have 5 minutes to get home, hurry go, before the next siren goes off."

And this woman said it herself..."It came real fast"...Hello lady, you contradict yourself here...it came real fast but they had plenty of time....apparently she's an expert on tornadoes, and the rate of speed at which they come? She could have made a much better decision when it comes to the lives of these kids right?

While I am truly sad for the loss of these 8 kids, I am also truly sad that there are people in the MSM that would get behind the mentality that there must be some sort of justice served every single time a death occurs, no matter how little the humans could control it.

One cannot predict what wrath mother nature will bring nor the fate of another person's life. Help the families of these children through their pain and stop trying to be the valiant ones by seeking justice for a force that is beyond the reach of human control!

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