Go Tell Aunt Rhody
A couple of thoughts on the jet-in-Hudson deal: Miracles actually occur on a fairly regular basis, if you don't require them to be supernatural.
Also I knew for a fact that this would happen: I'm listening to the BBC this morning, and the news reader (Dan Damon?) mentions that they got an e-mail complaining about their inaccurately reporting there was no loss of life because the incident did, in fact, result in the loss of life for the geese involved.
The BBC let it go at that. But I'd like to comment, if only for myself, to that complainant. You are, of course, correct. I can think of no occasions in which a goose was sucked into a jet engine and got better afterward. In all likelihood, the geese involved, if that's what happened, have by now gone to whatever reward awaits geese in the hereafter. They are, in a word, dead, and you are absolutely correct when you say so. And since death is strongly associated with the loss of life, we arrive again at what is beginning to seem like an inescapable conclusion: Some geese lost their lives, so there was loss of life in the incident.
But Matt, I hear this person saying, you've missed my point entirely. The point is that we're callously disregarding the loss of goose life when we say no life was lost. The BBC and other news organizations should have reported that no human life was lost, although several geese may have perished, which is to be regretted.
Well, as much as I abhor argument, I think there's a balance to strike here. If I run over your dog while backing out of your driveway and then tell you to be glad because I wasn't hurt in the incident myself, I might fairly be accused of callous disregard for animal life. But when a goddamn jet aircraft can't maintain altitude and ditches in the goddamn Hudson River and one hundred and fifty-five people go home to their families, I think you're talking about a situation in which we can find more good than bad. If it's any consolation, BBC Complainer Person, I don't think a goose suffers long after being sucked into a jet engine. And although there may be some mourning among the goose population of the borough of Queens, since geese mate for life and all, it's also a fact that they are free to remarry, as it were, and often do. They're sort of like the Ukulele Lady that way.
Also I knew for a fact that this would happen: I'm listening to the BBC this morning, and the news reader (Dan Damon?) mentions that they got an e-mail complaining about their inaccurately reporting there was no loss of life because the incident did, in fact, result in the loss of life for the geese involved.
The BBC let it go at that. But I'd like to comment, if only for myself, to that complainant. You are, of course, correct. I can think of no occasions in which a goose was sucked into a jet engine and got better afterward. In all likelihood, the geese involved, if that's what happened, have by now gone to whatever reward awaits geese in the hereafter. They are, in a word, dead, and you are absolutely correct when you say so. And since death is strongly associated with the loss of life, we arrive again at what is beginning to seem like an inescapable conclusion: Some geese lost their lives, so there was loss of life in the incident.
But Matt, I hear this person saying, you've missed my point entirely. The point is that we're callously disregarding the loss of goose life when we say no life was lost. The BBC and other news organizations should have reported that no human life was lost, although several geese may have perished, which is to be regretted.
Well, as much as I abhor argument, I think there's a balance to strike here. If I run over your dog while backing out of your driveway and then tell you to be glad because I wasn't hurt in the incident myself, I might fairly be accused of callous disregard for animal life. But when a goddamn jet aircraft can't maintain altitude and ditches in the goddamn Hudson River and one hundred and fifty-five people go home to their families, I think you're talking about a situation in which we can find more good than bad. If it's any consolation, BBC Complainer Person, I don't think a goose suffers long after being sucked into a jet engine. And although there may be some mourning among the goose population of the borough of Queens, since geese mate for life and all, it's also a fact that they are free to remarry, as it were, and often do. They're sort of like the Ukulele Lady that way.
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