On a local radio station an ad has been running in which states something along these lines: “The tsunami disaster has taken countless thousands of lives, nearly half of them children. Working together with UNICEF, we can help the surviving children by creating our own tsunami: a tsunami of compassion, aid, and hope.”
A tsunami of compassion? So, there are good tsunamis as well as bad? Imagine similar wording for other disasters–“we can help the surviving children by creating our own tornado: a tornado of compassion, aid, and hope”. Or, “we can help the surviving children by creating our own bubonic plague: a bubonic plague of compassion, aid, and hope”. How about, “we can help the hemopheliac drug users by creating our own AIDS plague: an AIDS plague of compassion, aid, and hope”.
Or, finally, “we can help the surviving 9/11 victims by creating our own hijacked aircraft: a hijacked aircraft of compassion, aid, and hope”.
4:55 pm on January 10, 2005
