civilized ku # 2496 ~ a rousing rendition
Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 12:38PM ;)
National Anthem ~ TD Garden / Boston, MA • click to embiggenThe rendition of the National Anthem (USA) at the TD Garden in Boston yesterday, was a particularly impassioned one. Under the circumstances, that was not exactly unexpected.
Having purchased tickets for the event on Monday, before the marathon bombing, I was in Boston with Hugo expressly for the Pens / Bruins hockey game. We left for Boston Friday AM and as we came closer to Boston in the early afternoon, it became apparent that the game might canceled or postponed due to the manhunt mandated lockdown / shelter-in restrictions in place. Nevertheless, we motored on with the intent to check into our hotel 20 miles outside of Boston and wait to learn about the fate of the game.
Due to my inattention, we bypassed our hotel exit and it wasn't until downtown Boston came into view that I realized my mistake. One thing and another, we ended up on the mostly deserted streets of downtown Boston. It was more than a bit eerie and a little surreal.
Eventually, despite our extreme visual conspicuousness, we did get out of the city without any run-ins with the law. We ended up at our hotel and we learned latter that the game had been postponed until 12:30PM the next day.
So, we stayed around and went to the game. Everything worked out well for us - as opposed to the Boston fans inasmuch as the Pens beat the Bruins - and all is now right with the (hockey) world. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for those in Boston who were killed, maimed, or otherwise impacted by the events of last week.
Reader Comments (1)
Concerning the senseless murders in Boston, about 100 to 130 years ago violence upon the populous was nearly commonplace thanks to anarchists, the antithetical (ironically) Pinkerton strikebreakers and restless multitudes of the un(der)employed. It could be argued that civilized society learned its lessons since then, especially in the aftermath of WWII. But it really is obvious that’s not the case. As the wife of Norman Morrison succinctly stated nearly 50 years ago vis-à-vis the Vietnam War, “Human beings must stop killing other human beings.” The false dichotomy of state sponsored violence, proliferated out of political expediency, versus that executed by individuals continues to haunt us.
This most recent human tragedy brings to mind a paraphrased quote (different context, but still makes the point) from the movie Contact, “how do we survive our technological adolescence without killing ourselves.”
It remains far from certain we will.