Majormaj52's Blog

The world has recently been witnessed to a very riveting event that is not new, but still draws mass amounts of media attention.  For roughly ten weeks, 33 miners from Chile became trapped after the mine they were working in collapsed.  Just about everyone who has access to media, whether it is news, social, etc, have most likely heard about this event.  News such as this appeals to a wide range of people because it doesn’t matter who is witnessed to it, they will probably be touched emotionally in some way.

Living in Western Pennsylvania for my entire life, I have been around mines and miners my entire life.  The mines have provided plenty of job opportunities for this area.  I have had friends who have worked in mines, had companies visit my school for future job opportunities in mine companies, along with other points of connection.  The mines are an integral part of this area of the country.   Living in the area, I have also been witnessed to the negative side of the mines.  The health hazards that the workers must go through daily, not so much now as in years past, but are enough to think twice when it comes to working in the mine.  Living in this area, I have been subjected to seeing the aftermath of a mine collapse though media.

Recently, Chile had a mine collapse to rival those that have happened here in Western Pennsylvania.  The Sago Mine collapse was a very tragic situation that had similar national news coverage that the Chilean mine rescue has.  One key point of difference is that unfortunately, 12 of the 13 miners trapped in the Sago mine died, while none of the 33 Chilean miners died.  Both of these events are stories of tragedy, as well as survival.

“…once in a long while, an event occurs that unites people from around the world in the spirit of hope” said Brooke Leonard in her article about the Chilean Mine rescue in the Colligate Times.  An event such as this is so captivating because it taps into humans emotions.   There is an inert fear in humans of being trapped, so it is only fitting that people will be drawn to watch.

On another note, there is a thought that no news story is actually ‘new.’  The belief is that there are seven myths at work, where any story can have similarities to at least one, if not more.

In the event of the Chile mine collapse, I believe that four of the seven myths can be found.  These are: the hero, the victim, the flood, and the other world.  All of these are very prevalent in this story.

In the case of ‘the victim’ and ‘the hero’ it is simple to identify each.  The victims are anyone who was negatively impacted by the matter.  These include the miners and their families, along with numerous others.  ‘The heroes’ are those involved in the rescue of the miners.

In the case of the ‘the flood’ it may be harder to figure out.  The myth usually refers to something wrong with the society or people involved with the event, and devastating retribution for their acts.  The myth refers to the immoral acts, and then a disaster of great magnitude ensues, usually one that is natural.  Here the myth is partial because there seems to be nothing extremely out of the ordinary in Chile along the lines of morales, so it is just the disaster.

‘The other world’ myth may not seem relevant, but it is.  Some people who witnessed all  the media coverage are not from Chile, or even that part of the world.  So because of this fact, these people are being exposed to an event that takes place in a different world.  They may have found out more information about Chile, therefore opening their eyes to ‘another world.’

The story about this mine collapse is interesting and riveting, but is nothing new.  People are subjected to seeing tragedies all of the time, but that does not mean people will ignore their human emotions and not watch what is happening.

For years now, most of us have been spending Labor Day weekend the same way.  This day is the holiday for the working men and women of the country.  Every since most of us were kids, it has been the same thing.  Family vacations, barbeques, town picnics and parades, fireworks galore, art festivals, you name it and it probably happens on Labor Day.  People tend to bring out all the stops during this weekend.  Some use it as a last chance for a summer get away.  Having one more go at a summer party is always a popular choice for how to spend the weekend.  Others, on the other hand, utilize the time to simply relax and enjoy the occasion given off from work.  It does not matter how we spend this weekend, we all enjoy the break-up of the tedium.  Most of us believe, or want to believe it is simply a holiday that came about by the government to recognize the workers, and what they have done for this country through their jobs and careers.  But what meaning does it old behind all of these festivities?

Ever since I was a little kid, I would go to my grandparents’ house for holidays.  They would always have cookouts, diner, whatever they could come up with depending on the occasion simply to get the family together one more time.  My grandfather, who has recently turned 90, has always been a big part of my life.  His past accomplishments, big or small, always seemed so interesting to me.  During the holidays when I was younger, my cousins, brother, and I would sit around as he told us stories.  Today is a different time, seeing that I am older, but nonetheless I still listen to what he has to say learning from his accounts.  Each of the holidays had some deep meaning to him.  That’s how he is, and from what I understand, he has always been that way.  I do not know if it is because of his patriotism, the way he was raised by his immigrant parents, or simply something he happened to develop through his life.  Either way, he never took the holiday for granted.

Labor Day was one in which he enjoyed, but not in the same way as everyone else.  He was a hard working man, who worked two jobs while my Dad and aunts were growing up.  He usually worked 16 hours a day, 6 days a week as a foreman at the steel mill in town, and he had his own plumbing company as well.  He explained that the reason the Labor Day came about was because of labor disputes between unions and their factories that the represented workers labored for.  After a bloody dispute, the government put into action a day of reconciliation for the loss of the workers at the hands of the U.S. Military.  His philosophy was that even though big business had a control over the workers at the time, and were in league with some of the politicians of the era, some men understood that without happy workers, a company cannot have a successful operation.  He explained that one man, or a group of men who owned a company, should not put down their workers.  To end the arguments and bloody fights once and for all the government set aside a day of remembrance for the working man.  I asked him if he was ever in a union.  He explained that he was in a union for plumbers, which was a way so that they could not be singled out and taken advantage of when contracted out by larger operations.  When I asked if he was in a union with the mill he replied that he was not.  He explained that because he was a boss for a certain area, that he had to show up to work always, and was held to a different standard than the union workers.

He has always been a proud man, but he has also said there are many things that he is not proud of, but understands why he did them.  One day, there was a strike in the mill while he was a foreman.  He told me how he had to get up in the middle of the night to report down to the mill to work, even when he was not scheduled so that the mill could operate smoothly.  One man who worked at the mill attempted to gain access inside the mill after her crossed the picot line, so as to sabotage some of the equipment.  My grandfather was sent to deal with the man, most likely because of his stature (6 feet 6 inches, 250 lbs.).  The man received a so called “crack up the side of his head” by my grandfather, and was promptly thrown out of the mill.

I asked him why he did that, and he responded, “It was a different time. I was a salaried boss, and if I was told to jump around like a frog by my boss, well I better damned do it. I had to do as told or else I would run the risk of losing my job.”  His philosophy was that there is necessary need for unions for fair and equal working conditions, but there is also a need for the salaried men and women who are their superiors.  With this system, the companies could run more smoothly.  He explained that no matter who the person is, they should be happy that they got a day off.  But they should also know of the story behind why they have off.  Without the men and women of the past who were able to stand up against their employers, we might still have unfair working conditions.

Roughly 6 months ago I was working on a research paper for my Advertising class. The concept behind it was to see if there was a correlation between the change in the basic overall feel of video commercials geared towards children from years past up until today.  After doing some research, I came across some information which stated that the amount of shots, and the length of shots have changed. A shot is nothing more than a single camera scene angle with no cut in between. I found that the amount of shots rose, while the time length dropped. Furthermore, kids today have an increased problem with attention spans. Doctors have found that children spend a much more significant time in front of screens than ever before. Also, today’s youth is experiencing more severe problems with attention and attention related disorders than any other generation before.

First of all, I wish I had this article to contribute to the research paper, but unfortunately I did not have that luxury.  Secondly, if scientists have discovered that today’s adults are having trouble with memory and retention due to electronic overload, imagine what the adolescence will be like when the reach adulthood! I foresee one of two scenarios playing out. The more optimistic being that they will be used to all of the constant stimulation. Also they may possibly be much more adept than today’s adults who are the first generation of the techno-age.  The more grave situation would be that of a severe decline in attention spans, and memory capabilities due to over stimulation of gadgets and gizmos.

Hopefully the latter of the two does not come about, but only time can tell.  Personally, I prefer to just relax and occasionally, literally stair at the wall (only when stuck in my room though.) I believe that as a whole, our society is so rapped up in their electronics that control their social lives that they are to busy to log off, turn off, or simply put down these devices and realize that there is a world outside of iPods and iPhones. Take a break, and just let your brain go to its screen saver…it just may help.