September 1, 2011--Ladies of Forest Trace: Breaking News
"Did you see the breaking news?" My 103-year-old mother was calling from Forest Trace, the retirement community in Lauderhill, Florida where she lives.
"After this past week with Hurricane Irene I decided to avoid TV for a while."
"Well you should turn it on to learn about Katia."
"Who?"
"Katia, the new hurricane."
"What happened to Jose, the J-hurricane?"
"Forget about him and begin paying attention to her. Katia. I assume she’s a her. Though that's not an American name."
"But hurricanes don't involve just Americans. They can wind up in Central America and Mexico."
"So Jose would be the one for that." She didn't laugh at her own joke so I knew she was again concerned about the prospects of another major storm striking the United States, especially Florida and up in the Northeast where we and other family members live.
While we were on the phone I googled the Weather Underground and clicked on Tropical Weather and sure enough there was Tropical Storm Katia which had recently formed off the west coast of Africa--its coordinates were12.3N 33.4W--and was projected to move into the western Atlantic over the next few days. To me it looked quite far away and on a trajectory that would not threaten the United States. But since I am not a meteorologist I moved to that part of the Website that displays something they call the “Ensemble Model.” From the look of it this graph plots the many possible paths Katia might take over the next week or so.
"I have her on my screen," I said to my mother who was breathing audibly. This signaled that she was indeed feeling quite anxious.
"I am not following this. Your screen?"
"My computer screen."
"I do not know from computers but on CNN there is breaking news."
"It said?"
"I only saw the headline--'Katia Forms,' I'm reading it now on the TV, 'New Hurricane Possible.'"
"You know it is hurricane season, until November I think. And so new hurricanes are not only possible but likely." As the word likely came out of my mouth I realized I wasn't helping the situation. In fact, I was probably making matters worse by alluding to the fact that we would undoubtedly be in for more bad weather.
"It’s still on the screen. I also have a screen. My TV. I see it on Fox too. I switched to them, though I hate that channel. It’s full of liars. Though I confess I sometimes like to watch Bill O’Reilly."
"How many times, mom, have I suggested you not watch so much news? Shouldn't you be looking for things to distract you, something entertaining, when you're feeling nervous about the Middle East or the 2012 election or hurricanes?"
"You're right. I should watch the tennis. The U.S. Open is on now. I think that lovely young man Ralph Nadel will be playing soon. I'm rooting for him. I even think he's Jewish."
"You mean Rafa Nadal from Spain. Mallorca actually. I like him too but he’s not Jewish.” I was glad we were talking about something other than hurricanes. “Notice, at the end of his matches, if he wins, he crosses himself so . . ."
"So back to the breaking news. Tell me, from your computer, what are you seeing?"
"To tell you the truth mom, I'm not sure I understand what I'm seeing. For certain Katia is very far away from us and from the trajectories that I think I'm seeing it doesn't look too dangerous to me."
"So why are they giving us breaking news?"
"You know why. We've talked about this a lot. About all the breaking news on TV."
"Yes, that CNN and Fox are on all the time with the news and since much of it is boring to most people they give us a constant diet of breaking news to keep us watching."
"And?"
"And, as we've discussed, all the breaking news, at least most of it, is about plane crashes and suicide bombings and tornados and floods and hurricanes."
"Because?"
"Because right now after Irene they know we have hurricanes on our minds and that we will stay tuned in to learn about more bad news and switch to something else if they talk about diplomatic meetings or bipartisan agreements or speeches about the environment."
While she was running through our many conversations about how the media, to build audiences and ratings, focus almost exclusively on disasters, battles, and political confrontations, I took another look at the Ensemble Model. From it, radiating northwesterly from Katia's current location, there appeared to be a dozen squiggly lines that I assumed were the various computer projections of potential tracks for the storm. All but one of which showed it likely to be diverted away from the coast of the United States. But the one that didn't appear to trace a ghostly path northwestward was on a clear trajectory toward Maine, where we have a house close to the water.
As I was attempting to calm my mother, I felt a resurgence of the anxiety I had felt two weeks ago as Irene, when only a tropical storm, had formed also off the coast of Africa and was projected in that same Ensemble Model as having Puerto Rico in its sights. And, as they say, the rest is history.
But I didn't want to share any of that with my mother.
"Though I don't understand anything about them, cable TV news, with all its breaking news, and that computer of yours, with everything you find there—for example that assembly model you told me about--are making for quite a lot of tsouris here among the ladies and me. All we talk about is this dreadful thing and that tragedy. You know I am a fretful person," did I ever know that, "but having the TV on all the time, with bad news that they repeat over and over again, makes our anxieties much worse. The last thing we need is help in the worrying department."
"We've talked about that too, and I agree," I said, with my eyes glued to the Weather Underground's flickering projection models.
"I know it must have begun sooner, but with September 11th only a few days away, the tenth anniversary of that tragic day, didn't we talk at the time about how they kept showing replays of the planes crashing into the buildings and then films of the buildings collapsing, as if the disaster was occurring continuously, hour after hour, day after day?"
As she relived that terrible time I could hear her labored breathing. I tried to change the subject; but in spite of myself, as if giving evidence in support of what she was saying, I couldn't distract myself from the tropical weather news on my computer.
"I don't know what's happened to us. About me I do understand-- am old and becoming frail, mentally as well as physically. But by us I mean Americans. We used to be a fearless people. At least we were able to deal with our fear better than now. Nothing was too much for us. Nothing was insurmountable. Obama talks about doing big things. Well, we used to do big things routinely. And when there was a challenge--to go to war, to shoot for the moon--everyone stepped forward to get involved. Even if it meant putting our well being and even our lives at risk. Now what do so many of us do all day? I'll answer my own question--we sit in fear watching breaking news. Including the financial news where they also have their own breaking news. The stock market goes up and then, breaking news, it goes down. If you want you can keep track of your money every minute. And worry if you'll have enough to pay your rent and put gas in your car. I can’t tell you how many of the girls here are glued to Bloomberg. And I don’t mean your New York mayor."
"I'm sure there's more than this going on, mom, to be making us seem to be so fearful."
"Of course there is. We are having a very bad recession. But in my day we had an even worse Depression. We are involved in at least two wars now. But in my day, in the 1940s, for a few years it looked as if the Nazis and Japanese would occupy all of Europe and invade America. But, though we were afraid--who wouldn't be--we didn't cringe. We took on the situation, everyone pitched in, and eventually we won. I could go on. My point is . . ."
"Your point is?" I interrupted since I wanted to bring this conversation to an end so I could look at some other Websites to see what I could learn about Katia.
"My point is that the real breaking news is that too many of us have become soft. This is funny since so many people are worried all the time about their bodies and eating the right food and exercising so that they can be fit and strong. But not enough people are working on regaining the strength we used to have when in the past we had to face adversity."
"These are all good points, mom, but I . . ."
"Don’t rush me off so fast. I'm finishing so you can in a minute go back to your computer." As usual she was reading my thoughts.
“Please, mom, finish. I’m sorry.”
"Yes, about many things there have been improvements. We've talked about these too. How much change I’ve seen during my lifetime. But how fear is again influencing so much of our thinking and behavior--our personal as well as our political behavior--is of great concern to me. And the TV and the Internet, no matter how good and powerful they are, are not helping. In fact, don't you agree that as good as they can be they are also contributing to making some things worse?"
"I agree," I said.
"So if I were you, I'd ignore my call and this discussion.”
I almost said, “Easier said than done.”
“There are better things than Katia or Jose to worry about. Things like . . ."
I apologized for cutting her off but said, "Sorry, mom, I have to go. There’s something I need to do.” And with that I hung up so I could check the Weather Channel.
"After this past week with Hurricane Irene I decided to avoid TV for a while."
"Well you should turn it on to learn about Katia."
"Who?"
"Katia, the new hurricane."
"What happened to Jose, the J-hurricane?"
"Forget about him and begin paying attention to her. Katia. I assume she’s a her. Though that's not an American name."
"But hurricanes don't involve just Americans. They can wind up in Central America and Mexico."
"So Jose would be the one for that." She didn't laugh at her own joke so I knew she was again concerned about the prospects of another major storm striking the United States, especially Florida and up in the Northeast where we and other family members live.
While we were on the phone I googled the Weather Underground and clicked on Tropical Weather and sure enough there was Tropical Storm Katia which had recently formed off the west coast of Africa--its coordinates were12.3N 33.4W--and was projected to move into the western Atlantic over the next few days. To me it looked quite far away and on a trajectory that would not threaten the United States. But since I am not a meteorologist I moved to that part of the Website that displays something they call the “Ensemble Model.” From the look of it this graph plots the many possible paths Katia might take over the next week or so.
"I have her on my screen," I said to my mother who was breathing audibly. This signaled that she was indeed feeling quite anxious.
"I am not following this. Your screen?"
"My computer screen."
"I do not know from computers but on CNN there is breaking news."
"It said?"
"I only saw the headline--'Katia Forms,' I'm reading it now on the TV, 'New Hurricane Possible.'"
"You know it is hurricane season, until November I think. And so new hurricanes are not only possible but likely." As the word likely came out of my mouth I realized I wasn't helping the situation. In fact, I was probably making matters worse by alluding to the fact that we would undoubtedly be in for more bad weather.
"It’s still on the screen. I also have a screen. My TV. I see it on Fox too. I switched to them, though I hate that channel. It’s full of liars. Though I confess I sometimes like to watch Bill O’Reilly."
"How many times, mom, have I suggested you not watch so much news? Shouldn't you be looking for things to distract you, something entertaining, when you're feeling nervous about the Middle East or the 2012 election or hurricanes?"
"You're right. I should watch the tennis. The U.S. Open is on now. I think that lovely young man Ralph Nadel will be playing soon. I'm rooting for him. I even think he's Jewish."
"You mean Rafa Nadal from Spain. Mallorca actually. I like him too but he’s not Jewish.” I was glad we were talking about something other than hurricanes. “Notice, at the end of his matches, if he wins, he crosses himself so . . ."
"So back to the breaking news. Tell me, from your computer, what are you seeing?"
"To tell you the truth mom, I'm not sure I understand what I'm seeing. For certain Katia is very far away from us and from the trajectories that I think I'm seeing it doesn't look too dangerous to me."
"So why are they giving us breaking news?"
"You know why. We've talked about this a lot. About all the breaking news on TV."
"Yes, that CNN and Fox are on all the time with the news and since much of it is boring to most people they give us a constant diet of breaking news to keep us watching."
"And?"
"And, as we've discussed, all the breaking news, at least most of it, is about plane crashes and suicide bombings and tornados and floods and hurricanes."
"Because?"
"Because right now after Irene they know we have hurricanes on our minds and that we will stay tuned in to learn about more bad news and switch to something else if they talk about diplomatic meetings or bipartisan agreements or speeches about the environment."
While she was running through our many conversations about how the media, to build audiences and ratings, focus almost exclusively on disasters, battles, and political confrontations, I took another look at the Ensemble Model. From it, radiating northwesterly from Katia's current location, there appeared to be a dozen squiggly lines that I assumed were the various computer projections of potential tracks for the storm. All but one of which showed it likely to be diverted away from the coast of the United States. But the one that didn't appear to trace a ghostly path northwestward was on a clear trajectory toward Maine, where we have a house close to the water.
As I was attempting to calm my mother, I felt a resurgence of the anxiety I had felt two weeks ago as Irene, when only a tropical storm, had formed also off the coast of Africa and was projected in that same Ensemble Model as having Puerto Rico in its sights. And, as they say, the rest is history.
But I didn't want to share any of that with my mother.
"Though I don't understand anything about them, cable TV news, with all its breaking news, and that computer of yours, with everything you find there—for example that assembly model you told me about--are making for quite a lot of tsouris here among the ladies and me. All we talk about is this dreadful thing and that tragedy. You know I am a fretful person," did I ever know that, "but having the TV on all the time, with bad news that they repeat over and over again, makes our anxieties much worse. The last thing we need is help in the worrying department."
"We've talked about that too, and I agree," I said, with my eyes glued to the Weather Underground's flickering projection models.
"I know it must have begun sooner, but with September 11th only a few days away, the tenth anniversary of that tragic day, didn't we talk at the time about how they kept showing replays of the planes crashing into the buildings and then films of the buildings collapsing, as if the disaster was occurring continuously, hour after hour, day after day?"
As she relived that terrible time I could hear her labored breathing. I tried to change the subject; but in spite of myself, as if giving evidence in support of what she was saying, I couldn't distract myself from the tropical weather news on my computer.
"I don't know what's happened to us. About me I do understand-- am old and becoming frail, mentally as well as physically. But by us I mean Americans. We used to be a fearless people. At least we were able to deal with our fear better than now. Nothing was too much for us. Nothing was insurmountable. Obama talks about doing big things. Well, we used to do big things routinely. And when there was a challenge--to go to war, to shoot for the moon--everyone stepped forward to get involved. Even if it meant putting our well being and even our lives at risk. Now what do so many of us do all day? I'll answer my own question--we sit in fear watching breaking news. Including the financial news where they also have their own breaking news. The stock market goes up and then, breaking news, it goes down. If you want you can keep track of your money every minute. And worry if you'll have enough to pay your rent and put gas in your car. I can’t tell you how many of the girls here are glued to Bloomberg. And I don’t mean your New York mayor."
"I'm sure there's more than this going on, mom, to be making us seem to be so fearful."
"Of course there is. We are having a very bad recession. But in my day we had an even worse Depression. We are involved in at least two wars now. But in my day, in the 1940s, for a few years it looked as if the Nazis and Japanese would occupy all of Europe and invade America. But, though we were afraid--who wouldn't be--we didn't cringe. We took on the situation, everyone pitched in, and eventually we won. I could go on. My point is . . ."
"Your point is?" I interrupted since I wanted to bring this conversation to an end so I could look at some other Websites to see what I could learn about Katia.
"My point is that the real breaking news is that too many of us have become soft. This is funny since so many people are worried all the time about their bodies and eating the right food and exercising so that they can be fit and strong. But not enough people are working on regaining the strength we used to have when in the past we had to face adversity."
"These are all good points, mom, but I . . ."
"Don’t rush me off so fast. I'm finishing so you can in a minute go back to your computer." As usual she was reading my thoughts.
“Please, mom, finish. I’m sorry.”
"Yes, about many things there have been improvements. We've talked about these too. How much change I’ve seen during my lifetime. But how fear is again influencing so much of our thinking and behavior--our personal as well as our political behavior--is of great concern to me. And the TV and the Internet, no matter how good and powerful they are, are not helping. In fact, don't you agree that as good as they can be they are also contributing to making some things worse?"
"I agree," I said.
"So if I were you, I'd ignore my call and this discussion.”
I almost said, “Easier said than done.”
“There are better things than Katia or Jose to worry about. Things like . . ."
I apologized for cutting her off but said, "Sorry, mom, I have to go. There’s something I need to do.” And with that I hung up so I could check the Weather Channel.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:12 AM
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