Love to the MSP

I am devastated by the bridge collapse in Minneapolis last night. I am lucky, however, as my family and friends seem to have made it through the crisis unscathed. There are still a few unreturned phone calls, but the phone lines were jammed up last night and I am refusing to panic about it. The news this morning is that 20 people are reported missing and the odds of those being MY people, I hope, are slim. Even so, I can't help but feel violated.

Minnesota is supposed to be a safe place. I didn't realize how much I had counted on that until last night. I know that I, personally, have chosen to live one ring out from the Manhattan bullseye and I have come to terms with that. But I always figured that the fastidious Finns, Norewegians and Swedes would be able to keep my homestate safe from tragedy. What could ever happen in a state where they never run out of baked goods (ever), Target is always well stocked and you can always find antifreeze, lock de-icer and a customer service person who actually gives a damn about their job? Prince has famously said that he stays in Minnesota because "...the cold keeps bad people away".

Intellectually, I know our species is on borrowed time. I know that no place on earth is completely safe. But I always felt that, no matter what happens to me personally, that the people I love in Minnesota would be protected by their geography and their pleasantness. It shakes me to my core to see that is not necessarily so.

And then comes the exploitative news coverage.

They always have to push it over the edge, don't they? Like emotional vultures waiting on the scene for the river to cough up leftovers for them to devour. Reporting is one thing. Using this tragedy to speculate and spread fear about all the nation's bridges while they have their graphics department working overtime on bigger and better visuals to play on viewers' anxiety is nothing short of sick. I'm not saying that the integrity of our nation's infrastructure isn't worthy of reporting. What I am saying is that the way it is approached is tasteless and exploitative. It would be nice if reporters went out and found some news and reported it instead of waiting around for something that gets ratings and then mining the story until it is played out. What would have happened if reporters who were just out covering a beat had discovered that our infrastructure was in trouble and then told the public about it when NTSB had that assessment? What would have happened if reporters were covering something else besides Paris Hilton's jail time? What if our news media found something more important about its work than making a profit? What if the news media decided to take control and let its reporters report news instead of trying to follow the whims of a fickle and insecure public?

Am I blaming the news media for the bridge collapse? No. I doubt any newspaper article would have been able to call attention to the problem in the first place. It would be nice, though, if the media could be proactive instead of reactive. If it could be full of information instead of sensation. It would be nice if the public would demand more from the news media and turn off the crap news that just doesn't matter.

My brother was among the many phone calls I made last night. He's a lovable crumudgeon. I'll paraphrase a bit in his voice (because it's more fun for me that way) but he said, " Well you'll see what happens next. Politicians will be making laws against bridge collapses and blaming each other and wasting the tax payers time legislating on shit that doesn't need to be legislated. You see, I've always been against bridge collapses! I signed the anti-bridge collapsing bill but my opponent is clearly pro-bridge collapse. Check the record, he voted no on the anti-bridge collapsing bill! And my opponent hates puppies..." He's got a point. We have such a negative, reactionary and exploitative culture and what gets lost in the shuffle and the bluster and the self-importance are people. At least 20 people are missing in the river. 20 people from my home. I don't feel that the news media or politicians or the public at large give that the proper weight.

In fact, human life carries very little weight at all. Be it American, Sudanese, or Iraqi all life is in service of entertainment. Just wait until you see the next DATELINE: Survivor Stories and you hear the familiar cadence of the Chris Hanson voice over detailing the dramatic story of someone special who survived the collapse. They don't see the survivor. They see the survivor story- and that is different. Stories are important. I love them. I believe in them. I need them. But it is disconcerting when so many true stories are forced into the same cookie cutter format and sold prepackaged to a ravenous public that consumes so blindly and so completely. They're like army ants. They leave nothing but the bone.

My heart goes out to the MSP. There is nothing I can say that can calm the shock or take away the grief. No matter how far I roam Minnesota is where I am from.