This is just all kinds of sad.

bleachededen · Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:00 pm

Once a vibrant captain of a charter fishing boat, Allen "Rookie" Kruse commits suicide after realizing his "help" for BP would never be enough to restore his livelihood, and worse, the ocean.

cnn.com/2010/US/06/25/gulf.oil.disaster ... tml?hpt=C2

R.I.P. Captain Rookie. Your death doesn't fall upon hard hearts. May BP get what's coming to them, tenfold.

I was told many times, by many different people, that life gets "better." Would anyone care to point me in whatever direction "better" is? I'm aging, certainly, but I still have yet to meet this "better" everyone speaks of. I think everyone just lied to me to shut me up, and I've yet to see any evidence to the contrary.

Anyone care to prove me wrong?

Taylor · Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:16 pm

Bleachededen you are among my favorites here at book talk,so for me you have made life better.

bleachededen · Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:29 pm

Wow. I wasn't ready for that kind of response. That was humbling. :blush:

Thank you...and...you're welcome...? I'm glad I can make a difference, even when I'm not trying to!

Taylor · Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:01 am

Bleachededen: The greater part of life is that which we choose. We chose to be better despite the ugliness that is so much everywhere around. Because there is so much more that is truly better!

Interbane · Sat Jul 03, 2010 6:44 pm


	Quote: Anyone care to prove me wrong?

I don't think anyone could. There's no way to truly gauge it on short timescales. But keep in mind you're necessarily biased, just as we all are. There will always be disasters, and they will always be broadcasted and covered daily by the news. As technology advances, we should see less 'small' disasters, and more spaced out 'large' disasters. Quality of life continuously improves and our infrastructure continuously becomes safer, but there will always be interspersed regression towards the means. Whatever the means is. It would be better to judge such a thing on a longer timescale, as a hundred years or more.

bleachededen · Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:06 am

Interesting idea, Interbane. Thanks for responding. I'm still not sure how I feel about that "getting better" thing, but I know that it's subjective and is partly moved by my attitude and perception of life. A good outlook can make any problem seem solvable, so they say, but I've a long ways to go before I reach what could be considered a "good" outlook. I guess I'll just have to keep dealing with what's given me, and take each hard knock as a learning experience and a better handling of a similar situation "next time" as a victory, no matter how minor.

farmgirlshelley · Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:49 pm

that is so sad. life is hard. it goes up and down like the tide. there are horrible storms, I have been through many. it gets better. it gets worse. it gets better again.

bleachededen · Sun Jul 04, 2010 2:09 pm

Thank you, Shelley. It helps to hear (see) that. I'm glad people are responding, and being honest. Honesty is very important to me, and I hate it when people lie or sugarcoat things just to make someone feel better. Saying that life rises and falls like the tide is more accurate and comforting than just saying, "It gets better." Admitting life can suck to someone asking for reassurance actually helps, not hinders, because it shows you're understanding of how bad it can get AND how good it can be, and that we have to deal with both. Thank you.

Seraphim · Sun Jul 04, 2010 5:46 pm

Interbane and shelley said it perfectly. It's a testament to the human race how people are able to build and rebuild from tragedies. NYC has come a long way since the terrors of 9/11. Countries worldwide rebuild after floods, mudslides, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. It's always harder, however, when the disasters come at the hands of man. It's much easier to accept disasters when they are results of Mother Nature because, for the most part, we can't exactly stop them from happening. This incident, with BP, however, could probably have been avoided. It is an even greater tragedy when you see people like Captain Rookie give up in the face of these tragedies.

The following is me speaking of my own experience.

I'm originally from New Orleans. I was living in Baton Rouge for Katrina and Rita. I saw that devastation firsthand, but I also saw the spirit of the volunteers who charged in to care for others. The LSU basketball arena turned into a triage center for people, and the agricultural center became a makeshift veterinary hospital and adoption center. A group of fraternity boys got together to help gut and clean out the house of one of my friends who lost everything in the storm. It was amazing to see the community come together to help each other.

Before my gradfather's passing this past January, he lived on Grand Isle (the island you see everyone reporting from in reference to the spill) for over 20 years. As much as I miss him, I'm glad he's not having to watch his island turn black from the oil. But I know the people of that region, and all of the Gulf coast, are strong people and will eventually thrive again once they are able to stop the leak.

There are many times when I look at the wars being fought, violence on the streets, and the bickering in governments and I lose a bit of faith in humanity. When the oil spill first happened, it was all about the oil in the water and the death of marine life. While tragic, the loss of human life was completely bypassed and forgotten. One of the women who lost her husband to the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon is a friend to many of my own friends, so I was always attuned to the personal loss in this matter. I saw their pain at the loss of a friend, but I also saw them rally around his wife and children to support them during the worst day and weeks of their lives.

During times like this, when faced with the destruction of a cultural way of life, the loss of friends, wetlands, animals, and jobs, I see families and friends helping each other and their neighbors, supporting each other during the long steps of recovery. These disasters come and go, natural and man-made, but it is a testament to the people who are able to stay strong, work through it and recreate their way of life. Searching out that light amidst the darkness has definitely helped me to get through times like this.

bleachededen · Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:24 am

Amazing, Seraphim, and so very touching and true. Thank you very much for sharing this. It helped to not only put things in perspective, but to remember that there are people who won't give up, no matter what, and that there are people who will help their friends and even strangers because they believe in doing something that matters, doing something good. Even just posting this shows you to be one of those people, and I thank you. I hope I can be one of those people, too.

farmgirlshelley · Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:48 am

Seraphim · Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:19 am

You're very welcome. I'm glad that it was able to help, and thank you for listening as well. It's hard looking from the outside in, and many people don't bother to take the time to understand what the people in those situations are going through. While I am definitely no expert in disasters, I hold my experiences close with the hope that I may have a better understanding and respect for what people go through in other circumstances.

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