As an orange farmer and avid news
reader/watcher, it seems to me that we should have all learned a little
something from the story that was, and in some circles still is, the doomed
Malaysian flight 370. I wanted to wait a while to post my thoughts on the
subject, and now after some considerable time has passed, I believe that we can
look back in order to objectively and collectively “glean” some of the more
important lessons from this tragic tale.
If nothing else, it proved to all of us, that at anytime, and under
almost any circumstance, we can be plunged right into a modern day mystery that
is so intriguing, so captivating, that even Hollywood itself couldn’t make it
believable if they had tried to make a movie where the twists and turns were,
as in the true story of flight 370. And
although some of the lessons learned are almost too obvious to ignore, what
kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t take the time to review a few of
them…before they actually find the plane and we all forget what happened.
First obvious important lesson
learned…you can’t, and probably shouldn’t ALWAYS believe everything you see and
hear in the news! I understand the 24
hour news networks initial obsession with the story, and I will admit that in
the beginning I was there right along with them. Besides, who doesn’t love a good
mystery? But it wasn’t long until I got
lost with the ever changing “facts” of the story. It seemed as almost hourly, we had “new
breaking information” about the story (so said the news reporters on
t.v.). First they tell us the plane was
more than likely “downed” in the ocean in one place. Then they said, the plane turned around and
started coming back. Then they were sure
it was probably in another spot in the ocean.
Then the “facts” about the pilots started to surface. Next there were innuendos about possible
terrorism at play, or maybe even geo-political factions at work. Then things really started to get “out of
control” when reporters started talking about supposed beach going “eye witnesses”
and fishermen who said they saw the plane flying low to the ground, even after
the time in which the plane had gone missing.
But for me, the wheels finally came off when Courtney Love, the “burned
out” rocker and wife of the late musician Kurt Cobain, came out claiming to
have clues as to where the plane was based on satellite images of oil slicks in
the ocean! O.K., I figured that with
Courtney Love on the case, maybe it was time for me to take a break from the
story and check back in as soon as they actually found the plane. I’m still waiting.
Another obvious lesson in all this,
never trust information coming out of the Malaysian government. Seems to me they were the ones who really
screwed up the “facts” that the news editors and reporters “ran with” all those
days and nights of endless reporting. I
am not sure who was covering for whom when it came down to getting the right
information out, and not to be totally insensitive about the situation, but honestly
they could have and really should have done a much better job at obtaining the facts, and maybe even getting a few people to corroborate the facts and get
them right, BEFORE holding press conferences.
I get the whole thing about information and facts changing due to “the
fluid nature of the story”, but I think O.J. Simpson could have kept the story
a little more straight than these guys.
Next important obvious lesson, be
sure your “good-byes” to loved ones are sincere and heart-felt. Because as we now know, that even as
unbelievable as it may seem, a Boeing 777 aircraft really can disappear off the
face of the planet in this day in age. I
still have trouble with this one though.
Hmmm…let me see, scientists can isolate teeny-tiny little human genes in
order to extract DNA to detect possible genetic disorders in humans, but we
can’t find a giant aircraft in the ocean? O.K., I guess I have to let that one
go. Anyway, as I was saying, make your “good-byes”
count, because you never know when it really could be “good-bye” for the last
time.
But perhaps the greatest lesson I took
away from the whole story was…sometimes you can never give up hope. My heart, time and time again, went out to
the poor families who just wouldn’t give up believing that their family members
were still alive, and that the plane somehow, someway, by some miracle act of
God, was going to land, and their loved ones were going to walk off the plane
and back into their arms! It was almost
too much to watch. But most of these
folks had something that you just can’t make up, beg for, buy, or even
steal…and that was HOPE. The families
wouldn’t leave the hotel where the Malaysian government had put them up until
they were basically kicked out and told to go home. But there they were in the mean time, waiting
to hear some piece of good news. All
they wanted was a little ray of possibility, a tiny glimmer of hope, that there
was a chance…that everything was going to be alright. And although there never was a press
conference by the government to tell the world that they found the missing
plane, that everyone aboard was O.K., there was that unstoppable hope by the
families of the missing. And THAT was
powerful to watch. Not the reporters,
not the so- called “experts”, not the former pilots, not Geraldo Rivera…but the
families who refused to give up hope, unbelievable hope.
And speaking of hope, I hope CNN,
FOX, MSNBC and the like were paying attention to the real story that came out
of this whole drama. Because in the end,
and even if they do somehow find the plane, here’s your headline…”The
Unrelenting Human Spirit is Alive and Well”.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see
you in the groves,
-Farmer Tony
