I\'m Summer, a mouthy, sarcastic bitch. I\'m passionate about natural birth, long term breastfeeding, and living naturally. I curse too much, love tattoos, and will some day be crushed to death by my book collection. I homeschool, dream of gardening, and swing to the left. 
A New Meaning On Black Friday
For most people in America Black Friday means the day when you empty your pockets, checking accounts, and credit cared limits in a mad dash to buy, buy, buy. But in other parts of the word Black Friday is more a day of mourning than a day of profit margins.
We don’t have cable, and you would think that this would shield me from the onslaught of news stories. But it doesn’t. I still have the internet, and more importantly I still have Twitter. I’ve spent the last two days glued to the constant streaming feed of death tolls, smoke, and heartbreak coming out of Mumbai. When terrorists entered buildings people were tweeting their steps, when hostages were released people were tweeting each one, as the police moved in people were tweeting their every move. It was surreal to be kept so up to date on a time of fear that it almost felt as if you were there, yet I was home and safe on my own couch.
People have died, hostages have been killed, people have lost family and friends. It’s bizarre to read one person’s comment on the death of hostages and next read another one’s comment on what store is offering free shipping today. I want to scream. I want to scream “No one cares about your new purse, or your iPod, or your half price tv stand!” But I do it too, you have to tune out the violence and chat about something else for a while or you’ll start to feel claustrophobic.
The minute news broke of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India, social media sites like Twitter were inundated with a huge volume of messages.
With more than 6 million members worldwide, an estimated 80 messages, or “tweets,” were being sent to Twitter.com via SMS every five seconds, providing eyewitness accounts and updates.
Many Twitter users also sent pleas for blood donors to make their way to specific hospitals in Mumbai where doctors were faced with low stocks and rising casualties.
Others sent information about helplines and contact numbers for those who had friends and relatives caught up in the attacks. Tweeters were also mobilized to help with transcribing a list of the dead and injured from hospitals, which were quickly posted online.
If you’re going out there today, to the mall to take advantage of the shopping deals today, pause for a few minutes to think about what the rest of the world is doing today.
Very sobering and sad. I agree – when there is so much awfulness going on in the world, what are we concerned with? Being first in line to get a life-sized Tickle Me Elmo.
Jill´s last blog post..Happy Buy Nothing Day!