Things to be thankful for
Nov. 28th, 2008 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taylweaverAround this time of year, people like to say what they are thankful for.
Yesterday, I was thankful for Facebook.
When people are celebrating, they post on Facebook.
When people are having a bad day, they post on Facebook.
When people need plans for the weekend, the post on Facebook.
And when people are in a dangerous situation and want to tell everyone they are okay, they post it on Facebook.
More than Facebook, I am thankful that my family's friend, Sarah, is alive and well and not being held hostage in Mumbai. When we first heard the news yesterday, there was a great deal of freaking out. She is my sister's best friend, so my sister was freaking out most of all. We knew Sarah was in Mumbai, and that she was doing work in the Jewish community there. When we heard something about a Jewish center being targeted... well, you can imagine how worried we all were.
Then, I went online to check facebook. Don't know why that was my first instinct, but it was.
And she had a status message up: "Thank you all so much for the outpouring of love and support--both A. and I are safe, and are keeping up with the news." (She was there with a friend, A, both of them working for the same Jewish organization)
A little while later, we heard from a mutual friend that she was on a flight to Israel. My sister posted a message on Sarah's wall saying as much - something like, "glad to hear you are on your way to Israel" - which meant not only did we receive news on facebook, we sent it too.
And so I am thankful that Sarah is alive and well, and I am thankful to Facebook for helping us all worry a bit less.
But it is also sad that this good news is in the midst of so much other bad news, and I feel saddened for those people who continue to receive bad news rather than good news as the situation continues to unfold.
Yesterday, I was thankful for Facebook.
When people are celebrating, they post on Facebook.
When people are having a bad day, they post on Facebook.
When people need plans for the weekend, the post on Facebook.
And when people are in a dangerous situation and want to tell everyone they are okay, they post it on Facebook.
More than Facebook, I am thankful that my family's friend, Sarah, is alive and well and not being held hostage in Mumbai. When we first heard the news yesterday, there was a great deal of freaking out. She is my sister's best friend, so my sister was freaking out most of all. We knew Sarah was in Mumbai, and that she was doing work in the Jewish community there. When we heard something about a Jewish center being targeted... well, you can imagine how worried we all were.
Then, I went online to check facebook. Don't know why that was my first instinct, but it was.
And she had a status message up: "Thank you all so much for the outpouring of love and support--both A. and I are safe, and are keeping up with the news." (She was there with a friend, A, both of them working for the same Jewish organization)
A little while later, we heard from a mutual friend that she was on a flight to Israel. My sister posted a message on Sarah's wall saying as much - something like, "glad to hear you are on your way to Israel" - which meant not only did we receive news on facebook, we sent it too.
And so I am thankful that Sarah is alive and well, and I am thankful to Facebook for helping us all worry a bit less.
But it is also sad that this good news is in the midst of so much other bad news, and I feel saddened for those people who continue to receive bad news rather than good news as the situation continues to unfold.
