we're back.... and Boston Strong

[parch]

hey guys -
so... for at least a little try, we're back.
machinery and I have decided to try to start posting some things on here again. I think my writing has suffered greatly from such a long hiatus, but so what. I'm okay with that.

here's some beginning thoughts to an essay on a topic that I've been mulling for a while. just a starting sketch.

B

***

I was in Mike Doonan?s Social Policy Analysis class when the Boston Marathon bombing happened. We were doing presentations that day. Between presentations a classmate near me told me there was a bombing at the marathon. A friend sent her a message, but it was already on the news. On my phone I found an article pretty quickly. It wasn?t on my news feed yet, but Google found it. Sure enough, bombing, marathon, dead, victims, wounded, unknown suspect, it was all there. We were still mid-way through presentations for that day. From the back of the room I could see other students bending over to whisper, people checking the news the same as I. Soon enough we had a break in the class, Doonan heard about the news during break and made an announcement when we came back. He also asked us to stay off our phones, but if someone needed to check on friends or family they were free to leave, usual protocol.
After class I went home and pretty much followed the news online all night. I found a live news feed and ended up watching hours of nothing. It was rather boring, but still so addictive. Within hours of the event I noticed classmates online, on Facebook, posting updates to friends and family, ?I?m okay guys. Don?t worry about me. I wasn?t at the Marathon.? ?I?m at home and safe, everything?s fine.? ?Thanks for asking, but I?m okay everyone,? etc. At first I didn?t think too much of this, but then I started to notice something.
Leaving class, we had been discussing missing classmates. Were they at the marathon? Were they okay, injured, possibly dead? Did we have friends at the marathon that day? Did we know anyone who may have gone downtown? Are there other dangerous locations and are those people okay?
I started to notice how we were talking about the event. Many people talking about the bombing had found a way to relate to it specifically. This is what happened to me. This is what happened to my friend. This is what happened in my city, in my area, in my state, in my country. And I started to get a little distaste for it.
Why was it about us, or me? How did this event become my event, our event, for so many people? And why do we want it to be that way? Why is that in our discourse?
For the next few days I felt like I could see people latching on to the event frequently, on Facebook, in blogs, in conversation, on news story comments. Everyone seemed to want to relate to the event. Everyone wanted some part of it, to be about him or herself. Then came the police chase, the shooting of an officer, the neighborhood manhunt, the capture. Once again, the same thing happened. I felt the urge myself. I wanted to tell people that my town was on lockdown. Police had advised people to stay indoors. I wanted to tell them how close I was to the manhunt, but why?
In our shared need to relate to tragic events, I see a need for attention. We want our lives to be special, revered, appreciated, and envied. We want others to think we are interesting. I want others to think I am interesting. And that somewhat disgusts me.
Why are we ?Boston Strong?? I know why someone made t-shirts. T-shirts mean money. Why is there a market though? Why do we want to tell people, on our t-shirts, our key chains, our car stickers, our wristbands?
Is it useful? Does it serve others to be ?Boston Strong?? Does being ?Boston Strong? scare other would be terrorists from committing heinous crimes in Boston? Does being ?Boston Strong? take back from the terrorists any victory from the successful bombing act? Does being ?Boston Strong? serve us? Who does it serve?

[thenewrant]

Whoa, hey, I'm back...but under a different name as I can't, for the life of me, figure out my old password.

Anyway, on with the notes:

Overall, though it is a rough sketch, I liked this. The language here is very direct, minimal and (Boston) strong. You kept a good pace, almost marathon-like. What I really appreciated with the language was the constant reminder of technology and social media throughout the text, how people were checking their phones, or you were checking news feeds. It really brings to the light the idea of society's need for attention, which you mentioned. Back to the language and pace of it all, if you could somehow maintain this short and concise language to illuminate ideas of your stance, this would also ring familiar with the guidelines we have on twitter and texting (so many characters). Just an idea, though.

In thinking of Social Policy, and things that affect it (for good or worse), what really underlines it all is the need for something, well, good. And in your short blurb, you got me thinking about social media, and how people crave the "someone likes this," or numerous comments. They want to be noticed. In the margain (I printed it out to make notes), I wrote this in regards to the 4th paragraph ("this is what happened to me":

I got that feeling, too. Why made it nationwide craze? Was this ultimately good for society? Why did people care? Acts like this go on outside the US, but we never become "World Strong." And, really, how strong did it make us as a whole?

Now, don't think that I took your essay to be completely snarky, because I didn't, and well regardless of that fact, I dig snarkiness to a certain degree.

This is in some ways reminds me of an article of DFW's that appeared in Rolling Stone after 9/11. I'm sure you've read it. If not:

http://people.virginia.edu/~jrw3k/me...sons.House.pdf

You talked about having "the urge yourself." So did Wallace in the article. He was trying so hard to become "American." It would be cool to have social media from the friends/classmates (as well as yourself) used within the essay. Dig up old posts from around that time and use them. Hell, you could even use people's posts that had nothing to do with the bombing. Let these speak for either the "we" or "me" of our society. Not sure if that idea sounds like a good one to you, but I just wanted to throw it out there.

All in all, I really like the sketch of this. Can't wait to see where this goes. Any questions, please let me know.

[parch]

good. thanks. will work on this and yes, should take time to dig up other people's posts.