Dear townspeople of High River, The past five days have been nothing short of hectic, disastrous, and traumatic. Moreover, the brief moments of compassionate humanity are continuously tainted by the material loss, overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, and heart-breaking death. Social media has been used as a tool to find missing loved ones and bring survivors together. It has provided an outlet of communication when cellphone towers could no longer handle the volume of calls pouring out raw emotion and distress. It has given many of those unable to make sense of the devastation that awaits them, the chance to express their feelings of grief and vulnerability. However, social media has also been used as a weapon, tearing friends, neighbours, and complete strangers apart. We’ve used words that we’d never say if we were given the opportunity to look at the victims in their eyes. We, too, are victims. We’ve created the monster that is now used to viciously attack those who are in no better condition than we are. We are the monster: the monster that is no longer able to see the countless number of people trying to revive a drowned town, the monster that is no longer able to comprehend the weakness in the voices of those desperate to get in or stay in, the monster that is no longer able to express sympathy or benevolence. The lives of High River townspeople will forever be changed, and we all have a choice. We can maliciously lash out at each other on social media. We can continue to bully neighbours who do not have the same outlook as we do. And we can even use ruthless names and descriptions to abuse those who are not doing exactly what we wish. Or we can come together to rebuild the community that we and innumerable others before us have built. We can quit blaming one another for the force of Nature that overcame our town and laying responsibility on our brothers and fathers. We can be known as the community who banded together to reconstruct a more promising livelihood for present and future residence of High River. We have a responsibility. We have a choice. - Written by my little sister.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 04:55:38 +0000
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