Last nite, my friend and I were talking about the disaster in Japan. She said, “Did you notice that there’s no looting?” I had and that people are standing in line for hours on end to find the basic supplies to live and nobody seems to be losing their temper. Quite a difference from what we’ve seen in other places, especially our own country.
When I came home, my husband was watching the news with American journalists reporting on the crisis at the nuclear plant and what would happen if that occurred here. Could our nuclear power plants stand up to an earthquake? What are our safety precautions? Would high winds near the plant in Japan cause an increase in radiation levels in this country? California stores are selling out of iodine tablets for that very reason.
I’ve watched footage of the tsunami over and over. In one video, there’s a little white car speeding along a distant road and as you’re watching this wall of water move, you know that the people inside won’t make it. Each time, my heart races for that car and its occupants.
I live in a place known for tornadoes. If you’re on the coasts it could be hurricanes. Out west it’s wildfires. None of us are immune from the wrath of Mother Nature but the people of Japan have been hit so hard with such devastating impact that it is impossible to imagine.
Maybe our news stories should stay focused on the country in crisis and not our own. Maybe we should sacrifice our iodine tablets for people we will never meet. Maybe we’ve seen with our own eyes that Japan is a country full of little white cars in trouble, stoically trying to get to higher ground.