Came across this today:
PARIS (AP) — A military demonstration drill in southern France on Sunday left 16 people wounded, including children, when real bullets were used instead of blanks, officials said.
I like this story because it really brings out emotions that straddles two aspects of my personality. On one hand, it’s hilarious. I mean, the French military jokes write themselves, right?
On the other hand, however, It’s terrible. Here are people who presumably had no idea that they were in any danger. Sixteen people, 15 of them civilians, were injured, including at least one 3-year-old.
Times have changed for me. I’m not the 14-year-old kid who would give this story his best Beavis laugh. I now empathize with the parents of the little children who were shot by what were supposed to be blanks. What if it were my little girl who was shot, either by accident or malicious intent? What if I were crying in the hospital, praying that she comes out of surgery alive?
Stories like this one really throw the effects of parenthood into sharp relief. Numbers in news stories aren’t just numbers anymore. They’re people; people who, somewhere out there, someone else would give anything to have them back.
No, this story isn’t funny. If you think it is, I don’t judge you. It’s all right if you let a chuckle out. But please remember, somewhere, there’s someone who isn’t laughing at all.
Post a Comment