Friday, September 23, 2005

Rita

I got an email from someone dealing with the company I work for today. I had advised them to take some measures to fix the problem they were facing, in the reply to which she had appended:

Of course with the hurricane bearing down on me -- it just doesn't really matter anymore.

I guess the more comfortable and predictable your life gets, the higher the risk of losing it all when the time comes. Contrast this with Karachi where, everytime someone steps out, there's the subconscious fear of a bomb placed in a mosque or a local eatery you frequent that could literally be the death of you. Living very close to the sea, I've faced many moments myself when there was the chance a typhoon would be coming by and blowing through Karachi, plowing through my own home first of all. Of course now there is the additional fear of a tsunami sneaking up on us as we sleep, but nobody's going anywhere. We go on as usual, cheerfully even. A friend was telling me today about relatives in Houston who are cheerfully sitting tight in their homes as Rita draws closer with the rhetoric that if they are meant to die at that moment, they will, no matter where they run, and if not, the hurricane will pass them right on by. Even if they did try to bolt, they'd probably face a highway of jammed cars all trying to get out with as much as possible. All we can do is say a prayer for everyone in the path of the storm to be okay and stay glued to the telly, like we always are in the face of a large scale tragedy.

Misha at Friday, September 23, 2005

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