Timing Is Everything

The first thing I thought about as I was preparing to write this entry was about how the media tends to - wait a minute - I am the media. Not the twenty-four hour worldwide leader in opinionated blowhards, but the once a day opinionated blowhard with access to a keyboard. That settled, it occurred to me how we, the media, tend to highlight moments of pain and strife with unnecessary calendar-related irony.
Whenever there is a house fire it is a dangerous and potentially deadly event. The fact that someone's house burns down just before Christmas makes the story more sad. Not because the fire burns any hotter in December or the damage done is any more severe during the winter months, but because of the proximity to the holidays. The same can be said for burglaries or theft of any kind. It's worse because of Christmas. Anyone who has their car stolen on December twenty-fourth is a victim of the highest echelon. I made a bad choice when I picked Father's Day to have my car stolen.
Hold on. I didn't pick the day. Nobody does. The guy in Texas who chooses to shoot up his family gathering in a Santa suit gets special attention because he did choose. We, I'm speaking of the audience this time, view this tragedy with greater sadness because it happened in proximity to the high point of love and understanding. There is no season that is immune from suffering, but we want to believe that. This time, I mean the media and the audience. There must be a time when the pain and grief of everyday accidents and acts of violence just doesn't happen.
Maybe next year.