Other people's tragedies

[beetiger]

It's an interesting point in the rhythm of my life, that the first place I heard about the distaster when I woke up was in my friends' LiveJournals. I flash back to the last one, college time for me, sitting with dozens of people watching the news coverage, fascinated, disturbed, starting to make bad jokes way too early. No one was getting their news on the internet then, no one looking to online friends for comfort. Yesterday afternoon, sitting here with Julia, feeling for the first time in a while the difference in our age, our histories, as she was really a child when this happened before. I watched some of the coverage, listened to Bush talk, the NASA folks, and then moved on to other things. I'm not feeling very personally about this. I don't think it will stop the space program. And I'm not personally scared, the way I was after 9-11. There's a little bit of guilt on me about this, a little bit of me that thinks someone as emotional as I am, who an cry at the tiniest things, should care more. But every time I go back to look, it's more about curiosity, following the media, than about grief.

Comments

[freeko.livejournal.com]

I know I was in no mood for making bad jokes at this time, just as after 9/11 I could not process who was at blame, because all I could focus on was the thousands that perished. I remember the Challenger vividly and I think the reason I am able to relate to you is because we are about the same age and we have a lot of the same cultural references. I remember how stunned I was over the Challenger and if I had been there, I would have offered the same *hugs* then as I do now. *hugs*

[neillparatzo.livejournal.com]

Maybe the biggest tragedy is that Columbia will always be the "other" shuttle accident.

Anyway, I pretty much agree with you.