Issue #5
January 2002
 |
 |
 |
Mr. Lucky by Gert Innsry Why is it that those who escape catastrophe with only minor injuries are considered lucky? The same thought process seems to be at work when a bus with 25 people on board crashes through a guardrail, killing two, and one the survivors says "God must have been smiling down on us that day. Only two died."
These thoughts are engendered by the newspaper articles written about the man who escaped from the World Trade Center on September 11, only to be injured in January by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem. Both the New York Post and Newsday had front page headlines referring to the man as "lucky".
That's not luck, in my book. Luck is being in Hoboken when the Twin Towers collapse, and in Tel Aviv when a bomb goes off in Jerusalem. True, it could have been worse. He could have died in New York, and then died again in Israel. The headlines about that would have been something to see. Still, if I were this man's friend I wouldn't want to spend a whole lot of time in his immediate vicinity.
Our desire to make sense of a chaotic universe and our need to feel safe and protected impels us to elevate "it could have been worse" to a positive blessing. By viewing the events in a positive light, though, we lose any conception of what really happened. At least the mantra "it could have been worse" retains some tenuous contact with reality, acknowledging the bad.
My philosophy for coping with disaster relies on this recognition, as well as mantras from two of the major religious leaders of our times, Bill Murray (Meatballs) and Vivien Leigh (Gone With The Wind). When all is falling apart about you, try these three: "It could have been worse." "It just doesn't matter." "Tomorrow is another day." You'll feel much better, especially after a martini or two.
Click on underlined by-lines for the author’s home page.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.c om
All content copyright 2002 by nystringer.com