Against the Grain II
Two tragedies brought out the humanity in us all
We all were invested last week when the experimental OceanGate submersible went missing less than two hours after descending to the depths off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The mainstream media effectively drew us in to the story. It put most who had heard about the tragedy in “hope mode” wishing that by some miracle the crew could be retrieved and returned safely home.
Veteran crews from across the globe raced to the area to offer their expertise in a possible rescue of the ship that was no longer in contact with the surface. With so many safeguards supposedly in place, the submersible was built to float to the top of the ocean if anything went wrong inside the ship or it lost control.
People from across the globe chimed in with a unified prayer that the crew of five, which included the 19-year-old son of a billionaire who was a part of the crew, would be saved and brought home.
I caught myself frequenting the television to see if any new developments had arrived. I was also, like most, counting down the time before their air supply would run out as the days went on in the search, hoping that by some technological miracle they could be rescued.
It did not end well. Once the professional deep-diving Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) arrived, it didn’t take them long to go down to the extreme depths and locate a debris field consistent with the lost submersible. Shortly thereafter, they would find the tail section with the OceanGate logo, signifying a catastrophic end to the mission. Navy experts concluded that the immense pressure of the water depth was too much for the composite material that OceanGate engineers used for the structure was no match for the intense pressure of the deep.
The implosion of the ship took less than a second. The result of the implosion was immediate disintegration of the five crew members. Experts do not believe any remnants of the bodies will be found as the heat associated with the implosion reached the temperature of the sun for that split second. Fortunately, it all happened so fast, the passengers were spared any pain as it happened before their brains ever realized it.
Collectively, we felt sadness for five lives lost. Five people we didn’t know. Five beings that though they had made a tragic mistake, captured the humanity in the world.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, a boat carrying 700 immigrants who were fleeing Pakistan and other countries for a better life sank off the shores of Greece. Pakistan citizens, who are thought to make up 350 of the crew, are in a severe financial crisis with a dire outlook for the immediate future.
While the immigrant ship was not as sexy a story as billionaires drowning in search of the historic Titanic, eventually the story burst through to the mainstream media. The result was another outcry from the general public. It was a sad situation and the mass call was for the ship’s crew to be punished to the full extent of the law for taking advantage of citizens in their worst hour for financial gain.
One trip could have been completely avoided, while the other was a matter of life and death any way you see it. Fortunately, for the most part, the humanity in us saw them both as tragedies. The victims in Greece were certainly the polar opposites stature-wise than the crew of the OceanGate submersible. Nevertheless, while we bicker, fuss and fight constantly, there is nothing that brings races together like a collective wake-up call for a time of civility.
