I was in the car when my phone buzzed. I had a few minutes in the office to read some of the early summaries, sketchy things that were trying to make sense of the senseless.
We took about a half hour and talked about this in class — How would you feel? How would you cover it? What is the public relations approach just now? — and so on.
At the end of class, and after a brief conversation here and a meeting there, the folks in Boston had more to go on, more to share with us.
I don’t know what you see in this video …
… but I see the best of humanity running to the sound of danger, running into the worst of settings, death and the unknown. Police officers, fire, EMTs, civilians and troopers in full utilities destroying a barricade that was intended to keep people safe, but was now preventing the safe care of people.
The smoke hadn’t cleared, all of the glass hadn’t fallen, but people rushed in, did their jobs, did beyond their jobs and maybe helped preserve the world of many others just a little bit, like Carlos Arredondo, who became a peace activist after losing his son in Iraq, who perhaps saved a life today.
You don’t see it in this video, because it focuses on that scene at the blast site, but you can envision the race’s health tent, which turned into trauma triage. And you don’t see, but you can’t not see in your mind’s eye, the marathoners who just never stopped running and went straight to a nearby hospital to donate blood.
And may those things never cease to move you.
At its center the random variables are too chaotic to understand or to interpret in any way beyond divine providence or the absurd. Beyond the spectators, and among the runners, there were many there from Alabama. This is the most comprehensive list of Alabama runners in the marathon. There was a Samford student and her father, who had just finished the race moments before. So far I’ve not found a report of any of them being hurt.
Today could all change some things domestically, I’m afraid. But one thing is certain: the honor and strength and courage of those who rushed to the sound of danger.
