SamDBL wrote:But I think having the futility and pointlessness of life constantly thrown in my face would fuck me up.
Which is sort of like what spending too much time on Facebook & Twitter is doing to everyone.
Seriously though, I'd never wish the crap doctors/nurses/cops/firemen/etc see routinely on most people. That said, while it does mess with you, there's also LOT of people that could use a dose of how the world works and reality injected into their weltanschauung. A Slap of Reality if you will.
I know the first time I saw people die in a fire certainly caused some adjustments to how I viewed the world... my childlike thoughts on how "things should be" grew up and became a little more in line with how "things really are".
Something that really hit home once... Like most children, I grew up with the idea of fair play... how you should be able to reason with anyone, no? Gas station, badguy goes in and does the "your money or your life" line to the clerk. Clerk hands him the till. Badguy stabs him to death anyway for whatever his reasons were. I was like
"Wait! Clerk followed the rules! The escape plan was to comply!" But guess what? In the real world, there's monsters, there's sharp things, there's evil people. Things that defy social programs, politics, justice, Hollywood endings, and fair play.
Side note to all the hanging/body found stories: It's always sad/hilarious to get in a chummy old times talk with a bunch of firemen and/or cops. Stories always start out with fun yarns
"So I pulled over this guy doing 75 in a school zone - no pants, cocaine on his nose, and he says, - get this - "I'm on my way to a funeral!" (all laugh) then, in the back and forth banter, someone
always tells the accidental mood killer story. Something like
"So there's this ten car pile up, and I go to find the driver of the middle car, and - he's got no head. I had to dig it out from underneath the car, but I didn't want to have his 5 year old see it..." and everyone goes quiet and does the thousand yard stare.
Happens Every. Single. Time.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Like Sting sings "
Lest we forget how fragile we are."