Friday 2pm local time in Japan, a 9.0 earthquake hit the prefecture of Sendai. This shallow earthquake then caused a 6-8 metre tall tsunami which destroyed everything in it's path.
Friday 1:30 AM local time Calgary. A girl studying for her exams is hit with the fact that she much rather watched in horror with live streamed news than study for her midterm the next day.
Maybe it's because I did that, that I'm more affected by what's happening in Japan. Or maybe it's because I'm just s sensitive person. But it really makes you think about what you're doing in your life right now. A life that thousands no longer have in one small country on a day which they thought was just another day.
Over ten thousand people are missing from one town alone. Corpses have washed ashore and over a million people not face the crisis of having no power or water. Yet here I am, sitting in my room typing this out while others are in search for missing family members and friends. A baby girl pulled from the wreckage three days after the Tsunami, her parents? Probably dead. A man searches for his missing wife and asks other survivors if they've seen her. A man reunited with his daughter, a woman rescued form being swept away from the waves of water.
Three explosions in nuclear plant, following aftershocks ranking around 5.0 on the scale.
This is my opinion. Right now Japan is the top priority country in need of help. This is a developed country in which people live with a high quality of life. These are people who are used to have easy access to fresh water, and living in the comfort of electricity and the comfort of homes and family. And while I know many other situations are occurring in other countries, I cannot say they can compare to a disaster of this scale.
It almost feels like, I have no reason to give charity to an organization right now whom I see pales in comparison in urgency and need. I'm sorry, that may sound quite terrible of me but thats how I see it. Perhaps its because I have always had a likeness towards the country and paid little attention to others now in turmoil such as Libya and parts of Africa. And it makes me shake my head when the next story after updates form Japan are things such as Sydney Crosbey's return to the NHL from injury. Really? Thats the next thing you want to talk about after you've just mentioned that hundreds of bodies have been washed ashore? Sigh.
Such is the world we live in.
What are my problems in comparison to others? There will always be someone who has it worse, I should have no right to complain. I'm one of the lucky ones.
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