Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Being a Parent Changes Your Perspective
You might have heard about the story of a 2 year old Chinese girl named Wang Yue, or Yue Yue, who died in a hospital after being hit by two trucks a few minutes apart in October of 2011. The entire incident was captured on closed circuit television and was posted online, quickly reaching international news wires and causing much outrage along the way. The carelessness of the drivers was one thing, and seeing little Wang Yue get struck by the vehicles was awful enough, but the fact that no less than EIGHTEEN passersbys did nothing while this helpless toddler was lying on the street caused much anger not just in China but abroad.
Many questioned where our morality was headed. Are we so selfish? Are we so heartless we won't even pause to help a baby girl who can't look out for herself? Some blamed our justice system that finds the courts clogged with frivolous lawsuits, and perhaps no one wanted to help because they feared the potential repercussions of being a good Samaritan (one good thing that did come out of this horrible tragedy was that legislation was crafted to protect those who were acting in good faith in aiding a fellow citizen, so that they wouldn't have to worry about a court date for simply trying to help). These are all fair questions. But that's not why I'm writing this post.
When I read about this story, on Wikipedia, a video of the footage that caused the uproar was included in the article. A few years ago, it wouldn't have been a big problem to watch it. But now, it's a completely different story.
With my daughter about a year and a half old, a parent like me simply can't help but ask, "What if that was my baby girl?" I hesitated to watch, and eventually changed websites. A day passed and I couldn't help but keep thinking about this tragedy. It may sound silly, but I almost felt like I owed it to this little girl I've never met to watch it. And eventually, I did. It was very upsetting to say the least, and I sort of regret doing it. In this stage of my life, maybe I'll have to wait until my daughter is fully grown to not be as bothered as I was about this whole incident. If a similar accident like that occurs again, this time I won't be pressing a play button to see what actually transpired.
My friends know I have a large blu-ray and DVD collection, and I wanted to get the first movie me and my wife went to the theatre to see together when we were dating. Well, that movie was The Changeling. It was a poignant drama, but the plot revolves around a child murderer. And watching something about children getting harmed...it's not an easy thing for me to do anymore.
Needless to say I didn't place a blu-ray order for that movie.
Many questioned where our morality was headed. Are we so selfish? Are we so heartless we won't even pause to help a baby girl who can't look out for herself? Some blamed our justice system that finds the courts clogged with frivolous lawsuits, and perhaps no one wanted to help because they feared the potential repercussions of being a good Samaritan (one good thing that did come out of this horrible tragedy was that legislation was crafted to protect those who were acting in good faith in aiding a fellow citizen, so that they wouldn't have to worry about a court date for simply trying to help). These are all fair questions. But that's not why I'm writing this post.
When I read about this story, on Wikipedia, a video of the footage that caused the uproar was included in the article. A few years ago, it wouldn't have been a big problem to watch it. But now, it's a completely different story.
With my daughter about a year and a half old, a parent like me simply can't help but ask, "What if that was my baby girl?" I hesitated to watch, and eventually changed websites. A day passed and I couldn't help but keep thinking about this tragedy. It may sound silly, but I almost felt like I owed it to this little girl I've never met to watch it. And eventually, I did. It was very upsetting to say the least, and I sort of regret doing it. In this stage of my life, maybe I'll have to wait until my daughter is fully grown to not be as bothered as I was about this whole incident. If a similar accident like that occurs again, this time I won't be pressing a play button to see what actually transpired.
My friends know I have a large blu-ray and DVD collection, and I wanted to get the first movie me and my wife went to the theatre to see together when we were dating. Well, that movie was The Changeling. It was a poignant drama, but the plot revolves around a child murderer. And watching something about children getting harmed...it's not an easy thing for me to do anymore.
Needless to say I didn't place a blu-ray order for that movie.
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