Hot Topic Friday

I was reading this story in Runners World about a man who collapsed near the finish in the Chicago Marathon...

"October 15, 2008
Running Away from a Man in Need
by Mark Remy

Pay no attention to that man collapsed in the street.

Apparently that was the mantra for many folks who finished Sunday's Chicago Marathon at or around 3 hours 20 minutes, in their tunnel-vision dash to the line.

As captured on video by a cameraman for Chicago's Fox affiliate, a man in Sunday's race collapsed near the finish line, clearly delirious, then started to crawl forward, head down. Meantime, dozens of runners rushed past, some grinning, some hand-in-hand, some with arms raised in triumph.

Finally, two runners paused to help the guy up. As the Fox reporter described it, Runner after runner passes the man... he drags himself along the pavement, on hands and knees, while everyone around dashes to the finish line. ...But then two men, who do not know him or each other, stop to check on the guy.

The Good Samaritans helped the guy to the finish, where medical personnel whisked him away. (NOTE: The video notes that medics were on their way to help the fallen runner, but that these two got there first.)

After watching the footage one anchor called the story "heartwarming."

Has it really come to this? It's "heartwarming"—or, heck, even newsworthy—when two human beings stop what they're doing to aid a fellow human being who is obviously sick or hurt? Maybe dying, for all they know?

I applaud the two gentlemen who put their own race on hold to assist a fellow runner. But isn't the real story here the masses who streamed around the guy as he collapsed to the pavement and then crawled pathetically ahead? They either saw this man and deliberately ignored him; or, so blinded by their own self-focus, didn't see him at all.

I'm not sure which is worse.

Have we really become this callous, this ego-centric? Or am I overanalyzing?

And while we're at it: Has anyone out there been in a similar situation, whether as the runner in distress, the Good Samaritan, or the masses streaming past? Leave your story in the Comments section, below."

Watch the video and tell me what you think. There were some pretty interesting comments on the original post on RW.

(Note how the injured runner actually reaches to stop his watch when dragged across the line. I imagine my Dad would do the same thing lol. Not able to walk, but enough drive to stop your watch and get your own time. Crazy.)

My political post

It's not really that kind of post. I never like to talk politics. Which is kind of odd considering my major was political science and economics. I spent many nights working as Treasurer of my college party (which shall remain nameless). I've spent time organizing party rallies, hitting the phone banks for candidates (local and national), working fundraisers and press conferences. We had fun having mock UN conferences for courses, writing papers on proposed foreign policy and listening to professors who have actually worked the Mideast desk at the CIA. And still I shun political conversations with ANYONE because it seems that although we can disagree about other hot topics, it's very difficult for people to listen to anyone who might disagree with their choice for President.

So here's what my post is really about. I would suggest it's not your most important election. These people who are so passionate about a candidate couldn't tell you who should be voted Mayor or to the City Council or to a Judge in their county, city, or even who their State Representatives are. Many of the decisions that affect your everyday life come from local and state government - and the majority of people who think they 'know' the issues don't even vote in these elections. Can you really expect me to believe someone understands the intricacies of foregin policies if they can't take the time to understand and get involved in their own local ones?
Vote local, vote often, get involved. The end.

The Tyler Half Marathon

This weekend WTR and co. traveled to Tyler, Texas to watch MB complete the Tyler Half and MM and Jen participate in the 5k. We had a blast. Hopefully, MB can post a run-down of the actual race.

MB, Karen, Jen, Liz and Tristen traveled down together. We watched movies and enjoyed the hour and a half trip.

After picking up our race packets and T shirts, we drove the Half Marathon course. It looked fairly ok with a couple long hills. Then we headed to dinner at Johnny Carino's. Yum.

Once back at the hotel we took a swimming trip and then played Farkel. This family loves games! Tristen beat us all!

Steve, Jaz, Matthew & Olivia arrived around 12:30pm and we finally hit the sack. Race morning we headed over to the site and watched Dad & Steve take off on the Half Marathon. It was exciting to see everyone take off and we got the first chance to show off our fun signs. After that, the 5k started and Nadene took off on her run. Jen, Jaz, Liz and the kids started the 5k walk.

MM ran down two girls at the finish - it was exciting! Then we all hung out and played cards and waited the two hours until the boys would finish. Tristen and Matthew were so fun copying all the runners and then racing from tree to tree. They had so much energy!

We had some fun signs. Since Steve wasn't running as many miles we had this fun one saying 'Practice is for Losers' with a picture of a doctor running and one that had our blog anthem 'Stand Me Up at the Gates of Hell - No I Won't Back Down'. Check out the pictures for more.

Because of the shape of the run course, we got to see Steve & MB three times before the actual finish and we had fun looking for them and yelling out when they passed.

Finally, at 2 hours and 30 minutes, Steve & MB finished the half looking good. Below is their finish video and our cheering group.

We are so proud of their accomplishment and steady determination. It was fantastic to watch them take on this challenge and complete it. And it was great to see everyone and have a fun family weekend.

Do not pack your pants

Today I am packing for a quick weekend trip. Good thing I am not flying because I need my pants.

Have you seen any massive failures this week? Tell me about them!

Crafty time

Here's something I found time to do in between the craziness that is everyday life.

I've been working on decorating the room (slowly) and the next step was the light fixture. I generally like it, but the shades were a little plain.

So I added some ribbon trim and fringe. The result was this. I like it a lot better now and it cost me under $10.

Plano Balloon Festival

This year we attended our city's balloon festival. Luckily, I work with someone on one of the planning committee's. He gave us a VIP parking pass so we didn't have to walk far. AND the best part - he told us the best way to travel to the campus. It only took us about 15 minutes to get there at 6pm. Trust me - you do not want to be in the line that is coming from the West. If you ever decide to go, you HAVE to come from the south and save yourself the two hour wait that some people sit in. We drove by all the cars sitting in line on the 75 service road/Parker/Spring Creek and I couldn't imagine that! So 15 minutes in, 15 minutes out - it was great! The best time to go is by 4pm. Better lines, you can eat and sit, check out the kids area, etc. before the big crowds arrive.

We had so much fun. We had hand-dipped corn dogs, roasted corn on the cob, hand-made lemonade. (Can you tell my favorite part was the food!) Plus the balloons and fireworks were awesome! I will definitely be back next year. Auntie Liz joined us in the fun. The kids had a blast. We sat on our blanket and lawn chairs and played games, wandered around the festivities, and watched the fun.

Found this video online and I thought it was pretty good!

Tristen's 5th Birthday

My oldest turned 5 last month. He is getting so tall I am beginning to miss my baby! We had a family party at Chuck E Cheese. I love the one in Plano because the kids can get their fill of games and the CEC experience without the loud noise and obnoxious full house that is at most of these places. We had a great time! I still haven't downloaded the pictures from this party.

For Tristen's friends party we went to the newly opened Boomerang's in Plano. It is really cute with a small playground for little ones and TVs for Dads who just can't miss the game. We had 22 kids attend! So it was very crazy but so much fun. Tristen was so excited to hand out his 'inbitations' to all his friends. The morning of the party he woke me up at 7am. 'Is it time to go to my party now?' Uh. no. He is at a great age for birthday parties so we had a lot of fun planning and getting ready for this.

Tristen loves the slides.

Sydney is a bounce house afficianado.

Transformer goody bags.

Decepticon and Autobot cupcakes with rings.

Yum! Cake!

Tristen loved seeing all his friends there.

Cheese!

One of my favorite presents!

San Antone

It's catch up day! So about a month ago we went to visit my 'little bro' in San Antonio and his family for the weekend. He's living down there while going to med school and we miss them! My kids especially miss their cousins. We always love to visit Sea World although Sydney always calls the dolphins sharks. She does not seem to believe Mommy would not hold her over a tank of sharks and allow her to feed them. Thanks guys for letting us stay and for the fun time!

I no be here

I be very busy and cannot blog. Will return soon!

I could survive for 47 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

In Remembrance of 9/11

I like to take a moment each September 11th for remembrance and to say a quick prayer of thanks. If you didn't already know, Jeff and I were living in NYC on 9/11/01. This year, I pulled up a recollection I wrote back in 2002 and I'm posting it here.

9/11/2002
"It has been difficult to see the coverage of September 11th grow nearing the anniversary. I have so many emotions about that time. But I am truly grateful that I know no matter what happens here, we have a God who watches over us and loves us. This gives me peace in troubled times.

I want to share with you my story. It's a bit long, so read it when you have a few moments.
On September 11th, Jeff and I were at work on Wall Street in Manhattan. At 8:50am, we were on a conference call with our home office in Dallas when they told us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Don't worry they said, it was just a small plane. Another co-worker came into the office and said "another plane hit the WTC. Then things began to unravel...

Around this time, we began listening to the NY radio stations and went downstairs to the lobby where televisions gave a better picture of what was actually happened. There we heard and saw all the horror that was taking place just blocks from where we worked and only three blocks from our apartment. This was our city! Immediately we began getting calls and emails from our loved ones still in Dallas. The phone lines began to get jammed and the one communication that still worked was email. We emailed everyone we could and told them all that we were alright.

As we listened to the radio at 9:37am we received word that the Pentagon had also been hit. This is when we truly began to worry. We were mere yards from the New York Stock Exchange, a site considered a major target for terrorism and heavily guarded. An attack on this site would mean severe danger for us. But Manhattan is now in lock-down, all bridges and tunnels have been closed and subway operations in downtown have ceased. Our only choice will now be to walk. We made the decision to stay put. That our 2nd floor office space was the safest indoor space we had since our home was even closer to the terror.

Then the stunned announcer said that the WTC South Tower had just collapsed. We couldn't believe it! We had images in our head of the WTC falling sidways and we wondered if our apartment building was even there anymore. We began to think of the thousands and thousands of people who worked in and near those towers every day and it was very emotional. Jeff was on the phone with his Dad, emotionally telling him how he was very scared. I remember thinking that I didn't have time to be scared or worried, I needed to take care of my family and decide what we needed to do now.

The windows to our office became pitch black as the clouds of soot and debris began to rain over lower Manhattan. A co-worker went down to the street to see if he could see anything. He immediately came back up covered in soot and ash which burned his eyes and lungs. He said there was no way we could leave now...we had to wait until the smoke cleared.
We got through on the phone to our apartment building...it was still there, but they were evacuating. We could not go back for anything, the police were locking it down. Now all we had were the clothes we had worn to work. No toothbrush, no change of clothes, nothing. We decided to go across the street to get cash at a nearby ATM machine since we did not know how long we would be out of our apartment and were worried we would need money in this crisis.
A co-worker braved the dying smoke and debris and crossed the street to an ATM. After he returned, the next stunning annoucement...the WTC North tower collapsed. The windows again became pitch black as an additional cloud of debris covered our building. The smoke began to penetrate our building at this point and the air became sooty and more difficult to breathe. The smell of concrete dust was extremely strong. Now we began to worry about any biological agents in the air.

We continued to listen to the news.
Around 10:45am we got on the phone to friends who lived farther North in Manhattan and begin making arrangements for where we will stay the night and possibly the next few nights. We arrange to stay at the apartment of a friend for the night. We will have to walk to Midtown though. Quite a distance with no transportation and in work clothes and shoes on a hot September day. We continue to stay put to let the debris dye down.

Around 1:00pm, things have settled down a bit. We decided to begin our trek North. As we came out to the street, the scene was like a movie. The streets were mostly a ghost town by now, except for a few soot covered people with masks walking North. Cars and buses were left in the middle of the streets, doors wide open, abandoned at the sight of the oncoming debris cloud. Debris was still raining down in the streets. Everything was covered in ash...sometimes almost a foot high even where we were! I felt very surreal, very emotional. We found a business card from WTC 2 on the street in perfect condition. There was paper everywhere. There were fire trucks and police cars everywhere. Pillars of smoke continued to spew from the fires still burning and the sun was blotted out with smoke.

We covered our faces as best we could and began walking up the east side of the island near the seaport. We were with an exodus of people at this point. We walked past the Brooklyn Bridge and were amazed at the steady stream of thousands of people making the exodus from Manhattan. Manhattan was like the titanic and everyone wanted out. They were staring backwards at the smoky pillars or hanging their heads.

We made our way past barricades and screaming police cars, to 14th street where we finally caught an open subway up to Midtown. When we arrived at our friends house it was almost 5:00pm. It took us almost four hours to travel such a large distance. This was the first point we were able to sit down and watch everything on TV. We couldn't believe that we had been so close to all that destruction. And we had been safe. We were just amazed. Luckily Jeff and I were at the same place when all this happened. I know of many friends who were separated during this time, with one spouse being evacuated to New Jersey and the other stuck in Manhattan and they couldn't reach each other. We were very lucky to be together and will always be grateful for that.

About a week later we were allowed back into our apartment, escorted by a National Guardsman, to retrieve whatever we could carry downstairs in ten minutes. There was still no electricity and no water in the buildings and many of the windows were broken in some of the units and lobby. We grabbed suitcases and whatever clothing and toiletries we had handy and were escorted out of the building. The streets by now were blocked off with barricades and machine-gun toting National Guard. We walked past shattered buildings and everywhere people had posted signs with pictures of loved ones asking 'Have you seen me?'. It was very hard knowing that it was becoming all too likely that none of these people would ever be found. It would be about three weeks before we would be able to return to the apartment.

We are thankful to our friends in New York who put us up and let us share their space, food, and lives during this time. We are also thankful to everyone who prayed for us and worried for us. We are thankful we made it out of this mess with only incoveiences. We were truly blessed.
I'm sure I'm not the same. I'm not sure that you could ever go through an event like that and be entirely the same. Has it dramatically changed me into somebody different? No, I don't believe that. I would hope the experience would remind us once again of how fragile and how important life is, that we need to use it well. We need to be grateful for every day, recognizing that we're not promised tomorrow. It reminded me to be appreciative of other people and what they do."

In Memory of September 11, 2001...
ONE
As the soot and dirt and ash rained down, We became one color.
As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building, We became one class.
As we lit candles of waiting and hope, We became one generation.
As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno, We became one gender.
As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength, We became one faith.
As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement, We spoke one language.
As we gave our blood in lines a mile long, We became one body.
As we mourned together the great loss, We became one family.
As we cried tears of grief and loss, We became one soul.
As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes, We become one people.
We are: One color One class One generation One gender One faith One language One body One family One soul One people We are The Power of One. We are United. We are America.

This candle was lit on the 11th of September, 2001. Please pass it on to your friends & family so that it may shine all across America.

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle, it gains a greater brilliance."