An observation on the spirit of heroism...

[feren]

Something varro said in a comment to the entry previous to this one sparked a thought in my head. He said (as regards interdictor): He just was a competent person in the right place in the right time who showed grace under pressure. I replied, That is my definition of hero.

The things that have been posted to that journal over the last 72 hours have swung wildly from something approximating factual reporting to pure hubris, then over to highly controversial. Regardless of what you find yourself thinking about the content of the entries there, they continue to show one thing -- a group of very dedicated individuals doing a lot of work in the face of substantial obstacles. While he seems well on his way to becoming an Internet Celebrity for a number of reasons, Varro is completely right about the founder and main poster of interdictor: the man is nothing more than a fellow who is doing his job and doing it well. It hardly seems like anything remarkable, right? Despite the unusual circumstances he has found himself thrust into, isn't his job just to keep the servers up and running and handle the logistics of maintaining the data center? It's not like he's in the street personally fighting off vandals and thieves.

Still, I think the man is a hero. I think that whole region is filled with heros at the moment, people who are there to help by doing their jobs well, especially under pressure and these dreadful circumstances. Those people are this nation's unsung heros. From this fellow to the patrolmen, from the firemen to the rescue workers to the hundreds of IBEW linemen who are pouring into the region right now to restore electrical power, they're all heros if they can do their job safely and capably. We should be thankful for all the heros we have right now. Let's hope they stay safe so they can continue to save others.

Comments

[youngvanwinkle.livejournal.com]

Heroes are often defined as ordinary people doing the right thing in extraordinary times.

[feren.livejournal.com]

Precisely my point. You did a much more eloquent job of summing up the thoughts that I was trying to articulate above.

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

Last I read, he was working on getting the city hall a router. Looking at the latest satellite photos, there are nearly no points in the city left whereby getting from A to B doesn't require crossing water. Even the overpasses are only islands. Hope he's got a boat or something.

[harlee-one.livejournal.com]

...and there are those of us who couldn't donae blood or money even if we wanted to or needed to because of our current situations. So those of us who can't really do anything major, we can only hope and pray for everyone's safety and ask for the main man above to shine down and give us all a helping hand. *Big Hugs to ya'll and to those over there*

[spoothbrush.livejournal.com]

They're going to be needing aid down there for a long time. Even if you can't afford to donate now, you might be able to in a month or two, or donate things like gently-used clothing to refugees when those sorts of drives get underway.

[harlee-one.livejournal.com]

Thanks for te idea. My mother has a site that is geared to helping others. Here I send it to you incase you or others may want to take a look..
http://groups.msn.com/DearGod/ourservicespage2.msnw