Alarmingly Disinterested

For those of you who do not know, I live off campus in Houghton, home of Michigan Technological University where I attend school. I also work for the college radio station and had to record the news this afternoon. The station is located in one of the dormitories. While there, a fire alarm went off. I begrudgingly left the building, a bit later than I was should have. As I walked out, I noticed that I was not the only one who decided to lackadaisically exit the building.

Our school, much like many others, has gone safety mad. I am not sure that is a legitimate expression, but it is the best way of summing up the university's behavior. The idea behind fire drills was to ensure that people knew how to get out of a building safely, which is a fine thing. Unfortunately, because the school has so many fire drills, no one takes them seriously any more. Call it the law of diminishing returns or the boy who cried wolf, the result is the same: a waning attention to something that should be treated as important.

Whether this is a sign of human beings in general or simply an expression of cultural A.D.D., the example applies in many instances. I could take this any of a thousand directions, but I'll use it to discuss the Iraq War as part of our "war on terror".

As someone who is a bit of a news junky, it is interesting to observe the apathy I've had towards world happenings as of late. This is especially true in regards to whatever may be going on in Iraq. I would simply like the troops should home and the job done as soon as possible. It remains to be seen whether or not that is an attainable goal, but ideally, we'd all like mission accomplished--for real this time--and our soldiers safe in this still great country of ours.

It is fair to say that I do not have a monopoly on unconcern for specifics on the Iraq war. There are two reasons for this. The war has gone on long enough that every reasonable person has come to a conclusion over whether or not we should have invaded, and those that have not may be undecided until we really have defeated terror.

The other reason is what was alluded to earlier. It is a simple fact that one's attention to a topic fades over time. This is especially true in the saturated media environment we live in. Those unfortunate souls who spend a significant portion of time in front of the television daily aren't going to have the ability to sit through the speech explaining why we went to war, let alone determine the legitimacy of such a claim.

Poor Cindy Sheehan seems to be going crazy trying to get people to pay attention. I cannot say that I like the woman, for though I am saddened that her son died in this war, she seems to be a slimy opportunist. Regardless, her antics will probably be largely ignored, especially since all the new shows started this fall.

"I'm going to go to Washington, D.C. and I'm going to give a speech at the White House, and after I do, I'm going to tie myself to the fence and refuse to leave until they agree to bring our troops home," Sheehan said in a telephone interview last week as the milestone approached.

"And I'll probably get arrested, and when I get out, I'll go back and do the same thing," she said.

Good luck to her. There is no way Bush is going to listen. But the American people have other things to worry about.

We're tired Cindy. Sure, almost two thousand U.S. soldiers have died since we tried to liberate Iraq, but seriously, can't she see that we have more important things to worry about?