Thursday, March 17, 2011

Heroes, part 2


As a follow-up to yesterday's post regarding heroes who fail, I wanted to write down my thoughts about real-life heroes who rise in times of disaster and tragedy.

The workers at the nuclear power plant at Fukushima are truly heroes. Nicknamed the "Fukushima Fifty" by the media, these workers have been exposing themselves to radiation and all its associated risks to try to prevent a nuclear disaster. Whether they will be successful remains to be seen. How their health will be affected also remains to be seen. But they are truly heroic.

I've read a few posts and comments around the internet from people who say "Oh, if I were them, I'd ask for XXX [money, fame, women, etc] after this is all over." What some people don't understand is that the Fukushima Fifty aren't doing it for any of those things and aren't expecting any reward afterwards. They know that it's their duty to do this work even while under unimaginable stress and risk. Their reward is in knowing that they are doing what is right and in the honor of serving their community over themselves.

I would also suggest that instead of buying tickets to useless shows like Charlie Sheen's disaster tour, you donate that money to organizations like the Red Cross or the International Medical Corps that are trying to help on the ground in Japan. They need help. Charlie Sheen needs to be ignored.

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