Sunday Scribblings - 1/10/10

Extreme

It's kind of amazing how extreme humans really are.  The pervasiveness of the media has allowed us to see sights and hear stories that we normally can't even imagine.  Think of reality TV, for example.  Someone you might see in a coffee shop or in your college class today might become the next outrageous reality contestant tomorrow.  Real celebrities are no longer the only people whose dirty laundry is getting aired.  Situations like the Jon and Kate divorce would usually happen in private, but now it's possible for all of America to see it happen.  The fame brought by cameras just makes it worse.

Stories on the news alert us to tragedies that most of us can't even fathom.  Children mistreated, horrible crimes committed, people finding new depths to sink to.  Things that only police would have known about in the past are now made public.  Sometimes it's just too much to think about.  Sometimes you don't realize how extreme things are under the surface until the surface breaks apart.