On a shitty news day ...

[blamebrampton]

I read Christine Kenneally's story on the Victorian bushfires in the New Yorker (last week's edition in the US, this week's in Oz), as well as the news from Fort Hood today, and part of me felt miserable, but part of me thought how astonishingly brave people are.

Because, faced with a brain-snapped colleague who was heavily armed, people at Fort Hood ran to protect and save each other where they could, with news reports even telling of a shot solider who ran to warn others to move away from the area where the shooter was. And faced with walls of flame so intense they were spreading by exploding gas clouds, volunteer Victorian firefighters saved hundreds, including two teams racing to a campsite where they loaded their trucks with the campers before driving the trucks into a river and sitting there as the fire went past, saving all 19 campers from being incinerated with their campsite.

It's so easy to focus on the needless deaths that seem to occur daily, but I think that every now and then we should also focus on the fact that without acts of courage that are often shaken off by those who make them as being 'what anyone would do', the world would be a far grimmer place. Things are often crap, but people can be remarkable, and I'm grateful for that.

Comments

[sesheta-66.livejournal.com]

Good point.

*hugs your glass-half-full self*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

It's either that or go completely mental. *Hugs back*

[catsintheattic.livejournal.com]

I simply love your positive outlook on life. *hugs*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

*Hugs back* It's so easy to despair, but there are lots of people who do astonishing things, too. I've decided to focus on them :-)

[phoenixacid.livejournal.com]

Things are often crap, but people can be remarkable, and I'm grateful for that. Hear, hear.

*hugs tight*

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

*Hugs back!*

[absynthedrinker.livejournal.com]

In what seems like a world gone mad, reports of breauhtaking heroism and profound acts of selflessness and kindness are always welcome at my house. Thanks

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That New Yorker article had to be put back into my bag three times before I could make it all the way through. Thank goodness that it had the small stories of survival, or there would have been tears on the train.

One other story I heard this month that impressed me with the fact that humans can be wholly uncrap was this one: http://www.alburycity.nsw.gov.au/www/html/1162-the-uiver-story.asp or see here for more details http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/features/uiver/

Despite the fact it happened 75 years ago, I was deeply moved when I heard about it!

[bryoneybrynn.livejournal.com]

:)

This is a good post for me right now. I've been feeling very down about the State of the World and the fucked-up-ness of people. I needed a poke about the good!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

There's lots of good, Bry! Look at the two links in the comment above for another great story. *Sends hugs*

[shadowclub.livejournal.com]

♥ you always have so much humanity in your news reports and I'm grateful for it.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

When I used to work in a news room, we had a ritual of finding the nicest stories of the week and leaving them in a pile for people who were feeling close to the edge. The pile was never small, and that in itself was comforting!

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

Things are often crap, but people can be remarkable, and I'm grateful for that.

amen, sister. thanks for the reminder. ♥

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. And how cool does your conference sound! I am filled with envy and an eagerness to hear more.

[enchanted-jae.livejournal.com]

Another recent 'feel good' story, if you will, that occurred in the States is that a prison guard was attacked by an inmate, and several other inmates raced to his rescue. These weren't heroes in any sense of the word, at least not before their brave act. Reading something like that can go a long way to restoring one's faith in humanity's inherent good.