NATURE SCORNED
(Update Below)
It's been a strange twenty-four hours for me. I'm sitting here in Southern California with everything that modern technology has to offer. State-of-the-art computers, wired and wireless broadband, multiple cable and satellite TV subscriptions, and of course, radio.
And yet, I've not been able to connect with my sister, her family, and my parents in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. My last contact with them was a day and half ago, when they reported that the power just went out, as did cell phones, as the winds and rains stormed outside.
The roof of their house had started to leak in a number of places. And after that, I guess the wireline phone went out as well, cutting off all contact. I'd just told her to fill the bathtub with water in case the water system went out as well. Which it apparently did later, judging from the scattered reports from local Hattiesburg media on the web.
And I'm continuing to hit the re-dial button on the phone constantly every fifteen or so minutes, hoping to get through on one of the lines.
It's a stark reminder on how life can turn upside down in a flash. And how the unexpected can occur even though logically we should have felt good when news came that Katrina had NOT spun through New Orleans.
And of course we should have realized in hindsight, that 50-100 mile an hour winds can wreak havoc through power systems, both consumer and commercial, which then makes utterly inoperable our entire fabric of communications systems, wired, wireless, old media and new.
Besides reminding us how fragile our technologies of comfort and communication are times like these also show that when they do work, they can be used in bad taste.
I'm driving at 7:30 am Pacific time this morning on an errand, still trying to reach the folks, while listening to a radio news network on AM 760 out of San Diego.
This news announcer is just wrapping on the news from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and then continues in a deadpan voice (and I'm paraphrasing here):
"But there is some good news in all this...if you own a motorcycle, like I do, you may have always envied folks who have had a Lojack system for their cars...well, now you can get Lojack for your motorcycle..."
And continues to prattle through his ad for the product...he probably thought he was doing a clever riff on the Geico commercials that have been running non-stop on TV in the same style for some time now.
Now I have nothing against advertising and a good sense of humor...but this struck me as being in bad taste...an extreme example of something Stephen Baker of BusinessWeek's Blogspotting talked about a day or so ago:
"I anxiously click on CNN.com to read about part of the roof ripping off the hurricane-batted Superdome. And I'm served up a video ad in which Cadillacs are rolling to waltz music. The message: "Cadillac StS. Let's Dance."
It feels like a jolt. At some point, I'm sure, the online news industry will figure out how to synchronize disaster coverage and advertisements. Clearly still a work in progress."
I know the media, both in television and radio have a tough job to do in times like these...reporting on terrible news non-stop throughout the day, many times in adverse conditions. And most of them do a terrific job.
But it's moments like the above that stand out in stark juxtaposition, demonstrating momentary flashes of bad taste in human nature, as mother nature does her thing.
In the meantime, at a time of dire need by so many, I'd urge you to consider helping out. The Red Cross is but one of many avenues to contribute...click on the Red Cross link here, or in the sidebar ad on the top right.
To donate by phone:
1-800-HELP-NOW
(1-800-435-7669)
To donate by mail:
American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, D.C. 20013
UPDATE:
Heard from my folks this Wednesday morning and they're all OK...driving north into Alabama.
My three and half year old nephew Neal thought it was all very exciting and wouldn't mind seeing the storm and its fury all again...ahhh, the innocence of childhood...
Thanks for all the kind wishes.
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