Tonight I am sitting in a cafe reading about Type 2 Diabetes. Or trying to....there are 3 teenagers next to me yelling and pointing to their computer screens. Each one has their own separate war game going on.
"ahhh! Joe, he just blew up!" "I shot him with a rocket."
"That was sweet."
on and on....
This love of violence is becoming absurd. I will admit that some video games (limited) penetrated my adolescent years as well, but come on....they are getting worse. This level of violence, in my opinion, all stems from shitty, violent world leaders. Like Bush. Leaders should outright reject violence, not pursue it. I wonder what the world would be like if each country committed to electing a peace activist as leader? There would still be problems, inequality, conflict, and elements of violence but we would not resort to war and violence so quickly and with such pleasure.
I was looking through a Rolling Stones magazine on my lunch break in the library today just trying to read up on good 'ol Jack Johnson: king of chillness and cool. Instead, I wandered upon a picture of two American soldiers proudly and laughingly displaying the decapitated head of an ALLY. Yes, someone who had collaborated with them.
(I had a hard time finding the picture on the web but if you want to see it, the picture is on this blog entry:
http://oldhickorysweblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/nir-rosen-on-iraq-war.html
and no, it is not photoshopped as accused by the conservative comments)
I felt sick. The physical image of a body less head made me feel sick. My doctor persona became defensive. How can this make you feel ill? Are you not trying to become a EM doc or maybe even a surgeon?
Later after class, I entered the cadaver lab to start working on some spines. I recently started a new job dissecting on my spare time, partly for a little cash but mostly to secure a job working over the summer in the anatomy lab. Next to me, my classmate was working on a decapitated man. I took the time to look at the corpse, the person. I could look right into his jugular veins descending into his unopened thoracic cavity, the severed nerves, and the sliced vertebra and muscles...
and then it hit me. It was not the decapitated head that had stirred my guts earlier in the day, it was just the shear level of violence, evil, and terror insinuated. This was an obvious betrayal, a disgust, a representation of why we are hated all over the world. The man in the picture died in one of the worse possible ways. And we laugh in amusement. On the other hand, the man without a head in front of me had donated his body out of love and for the sake of science and helping others.
It was not the bodies or the gore after all. It was simply the intentions associated with each decapitated human.
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On my very first morning of medical school, I dropped a very large mirror. A SIX foot tall mirror. Just so happens, medical school plus three years of residency equals 7. Lets see what happens. Not a good start.
6 comments:
Even though you NEVER read my blog during my 8 months in Ukraine, I am an avid readers and 'commenter' (if that is a word) on yours. ha. Just a little sisterly jab there. um, ya - violence. It is sick. I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. My judges kids (i.e. the judge I work for or 'my judge')- ages 7 and 9 came in to work to meet their mom. I started chatting with them and asked them what they like to do. They said they liked video games. I asked what kind- they said war video games. I asked what else they liked to do. They said they liked to play war games with their soft shell bb guns and with their dad. They would dress in camo gear and hide and then shoot their dad. I then tried to steer away from WAR and asked them if they liked animals. They said no. I asked them if they liked playing outside in the woods. They said no. I asked them if they liked hiking or camping. They said no. Then they told me they liked to put a magnifying glass over beetles and blow them up in the sun. BY THEN I HAD IT --- and I made them PROMISE me that they would never do that again. EVER. Hmmm. Somehow I don't believe their promise.
It made me very sad and at the end of the conversation I stumbled back to my desk feeling completely defeated by these little warriors.
sorry for all the spelling mistakes. ha. nice job gmail....where were you on those mistakes!
Nice blog. It's nice to see a DO blog. Definitely keep on writing. It's a great stress release during med school.
thanks lone!
I think you are the first non-family member to visit :)
Good luck on the match....
cheers
“Violence is not merely killing another. It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a gesture to brush away a person, when we obey because there is fear. So violence isn't merely organized butchery in the name of God, in the name of society or country. Violence is much more subtle, much deeper, and we are inquiring into the very depths of violence.”-an old indian saying
thanks for that :)
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