Sense of humour failure? No, it’s called compassion

Like millions of people around the world, I’ve watched with absolute horror the footage of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan. I’ve seen the destruction it wrought and the devastation left in its wake.

Several times I even found myself shouting, “RUN, RUN” on watching footage of the tide of water and debris heading towards people, who could most probably hear it, but couldn’t see it heading toward them.

I have a very good sense of humour, which borders on the black sometimes, but what I find unacceptable are some of the ‘jokes’ that are appearing regarding this truly dreadful event.

There is no humour to be found in an as yet unknown number of people who have lost their lives.

There is nothing funny about cities, towns and villages being destroyed.

There is nothing amusing to be seen when watching people’s distress as they search for missing loved ones.

There is no funny side to the nuclear crisis currently unfolding.

This is without mentioning the food, water and fuel shortages, the power outages, the people who have lost everything, the people who have had to flee to a safer area because of the radiation threat and other problems.

I truly wonder at some people’s lack of empathy. How can they be so lacking in even a basic amount of compassion that they joke about this disaster? Have these people had a sympathy bypass? There is nothing remotely entertaining to be had from this catastrophe. I find it disgusting to say the very least.

To end on a more positive note, while reading through news reports on Sunday, I found this on the BBC News website:

“…offers of help to the Japanese government have been pouring in from across the world. Even the poor southern Afghan city of Kandahar is chipping in – its mayor has said it is donating $50,000 to the “brothers and sisters” of Japan. “I know $50,000 is not a lot of money for a country like Japan, but it is a show of appreciation from the Kandahar people,” Ghulam Haidar Hamidi told the Reuters news agency.”

To say it brought a lump to my throat would be an understatement.