I’ve spent many hours in front of the television watching disaster after disaster unfold.  Wondering how terrible it must be for those affected.  The television brings the images to us.  I watch these things on my comfortable couch as I sip my diet mountain dew that I’ve poured some salty peanuts in.  I feel bad for the people affected and I occasionally donate money to a charity that is dealing with the problems.  However, there is this separation between me and the disaster victims.  I feel bad for them as I sip a little mountain dew and chew whatever peanuts happen to float through the opening.  The disaster is on television, not in my house or my  town.  Then the earth quake and tsunami hit Japan.  My perspective has forever been changed.
I woke up the morning of the earthquake and was surprised to hear the names of the some of the towns.  My brother-in-law, his wife and two kids live in Japan.  I immediately recognized the name Sendai.  I know he has a business in or near there.  Things are happening in Tokyo.  I know he has an office there as well.  My brother-in-law is a Japanese citizen even though he was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and raised in Norman, Oklahoma.  He got his degree in Asian studies and went to work for a Japanese company after college.  He met and married a girl there and they have been happily married for twenty years.  We see them once or twice a year and keep in touch via email.  His son is supposed to come to college here in the states this fall.  He spent some time with me and his aunt a few summers ago here in Oklahoma.  We showed him our good ol’ Okie ways.  He got to drive my race car around in the pasture.  He grinned widely as he sent cow turds flying as the car slung sideways through the turns.  We shot guns.  You can’t come to Oklahoma and not shoot a gun.  Around here we shoot guns like most people in other places sneeze.  It’s a bodily function.  He was a good sport and I was proud he tried it all.  Now I’m watching this nightmare unfold on the television.  There is a lump in my throat.  There will be no mountain dew and peanuts going down the hatch this time.  I’m horrified.  I’m worried.
I called a lot of my family members as the day wore on.  No one knew anything.   No one could get through.  This is different.  The separation between me and disaster victims is gone.  I want to know how my family is.  I want to know if they are alright, if they are alive.  Then the second quake hit.  The television tells me the prefecture the quake was located in.  I recognize the name.  It’s a prefecture that shares a border with the one my family lives in.  I’m terribly worried now.  I know one has hit to the north and to the south.  The images on the television and the computer are stark.  It’s a nightmare.  The people of Japan are living a nightmare.  I’m living it with them.  Finally there is news.  My family is alright but they are evacuating the area where they live because of the threat of a reactor meltdown.  I’m relieved and feeling better about their safety.  My brother-in-law is industrious to say the least.  We’ve finally been getting regular updates now.  They are safe and prepared for what happens next.  They have a plan should the worst happen.  We are all relieved.
I have a better understanding now of how this works.  You see other disasters happen and you feel sad for the people affected.  You hope for the best, but you can always turn the television off and the disaster disappears.  Your life goes on without interuption.  When you or someone you love is involved the feeling is much different.  You don’t hope for the best.  You hurt for the best.  When the images come on the screen you look for faces you might recognize.  It’s not passive watching anymore.  It’s something totally different.  It’s stressful.  It’s heart wrenching.  I’m hurting for the best outcomes now.  I’m hoping  they get those damn reactors settled down.  My hat is off to the brave men and women who are working on them.  My hat is off  to anybody over there doing their best to help or to just survive.  I know it doesn’t mean much of anything, but there are some Okies pulling for the  people of Japan.  We’re hoping and hurting for you.  Hang in there.