Miss Capricious

Definition of capricious
[Oxford Mini Dictionary] Having sudden changes of mood.
[Astrology] Loyal, dependable, industrious, determined, meticulous, austere, shrewd, practical.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

为灾民祈福

9天了。 报纸,电视新闻天天都报着四川大地震的消息与死亡人数的增加, 让我天天看了感到非常沮丧。但虽然如此, 报纸与电视上的报道没法让我想象那惨剧有多可怕。直到我看了凤凰电视台刚播放有关四川大地震的一个特备节目: 《陈坚的最后79个小时》。

节目里的主持人与工作人员到了四川北川灾区现场, 拍摄走在废墟中寻找着亲人的灾民。 他们呼喊着自己孩子, 妻子, 丈夫的名字, 然后用着双手和原始工具挖掘废墟。 我自己看了几乎都失去了希望。 就在那瞬间,他们发现了陈坚。

陈坚是奇迹中的奇迹。 他是在几块大石头腹部向下的被埋着的奇迹生还者。 在那里被埋了3天3夜,我无法想象他是怎么熬过来的。

救灾人员与记者都设法帮他维持清醒状态, 时不时对他说了话。

记者问他叫什么名,今年几岁。 他说 陈坚, 26岁。

啊,和我同岁。 老婆刚怀了孕, 是位年轻的爸爸。

他说, 3天3夜里, 一点粮食也没吃到,只是尽量维持身体有水分。

他说, 自己是一名司机。

他说, 自己能够生还实在是太好了。

他还说, 大难不死, 必有后福。

记者倒了一杯可乐给他喝后便说, 他活着就是为了喝这个。

又说, 这可乐比不上百事好喝。 挺幽默的。

也激动地说, 为了他的妻子和爱着他的人, 他要顽顽强强的活下去。 在困难前绝不感到害怕。 也鼓励正为他急救的人员, 都要以这样的态度活下去。

几个小时过去了, 天也黑了, 只有一轮月亮高高挂着。 在没有重大机械或设备协助的情况下, 陈坚从几块大石头底下被救了出来。 啊, 我心里欢呼着。 他仍然活着, 大家都鼓励他要坚持到底。 他也努力着, 说着话儿, 唱着歌儿。

接下来困难还是重重。 救灾人员必须在最短时间内把陈坚送到急救营。 而在毫无设备与恶劣环境的情况下, 最近的急救营也需要几小时的时间以步行抵达。 一直爱说话的陈坚这时渐渐的静了下来。。。

一名救灾人员叔叔停下来, 开始为陈坚做人工呼吸。 边做边温顺地向陈坚说道 “真是个傻子啊。。 都坚持了那么久了。。” 我看了心里一直叫着他快醒过来。 救灾人员叔叔不断地抢救, 但最终, 陈坚还是走了。 让我看了忍不住的流下了眼泪。

陈坚生命里的最后几刻, 就这么过了。 如他的名字, 他非常坚强非常乐观地活到最后。 他的那几句简单的话语, 似乎是上天要给予我们的讯息, 让我对生命的意义有所启发。

的确, 能够实实在在的活着是多么幸福的事。

希望大家能在自己办得到的范围里为这些四川(及缅甸)灾民祈福。

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Shutdown Day

The most important electrical appliance ever invented stopped functioning in my house. Ironically, it is also Shutdown Day (www.shutdownday.org) today. Left without much choice, my family is participating in this involuntarily. It all began last evening.

It was late in the night and I had just reached home. When I opened the door, I noticed that the house was unusually quiet. I reckoned either everyone was out or asleep.

I saw Mom sitting by the dining table, with her glasses perched on her nose, working out some household accounts. Little brother was in his room doing his own things. Pa's probably asleep already. Good, everything seems normal.

"You're back. Your fruits are in the fridge. Papa's asleep." murmured dear Mom.
"Nice" I thought. But the house was just too quiet for its own good.

I had my shower and fruits then wondered what to do next. It was past midnight but the night is still young, as they say. So I asked Mom if she'd like to join me for a movie.

"It's not working."
"Sorry?"
"The TV's not working."
"Really! What luck.. stopped working on a weekend huh!"
"Yeah.."

There was nothing much I could do except to go to bed. I went back to my room but was still feeling wide awake so I logged on to my laptop.

Through some aimless surfing of the WWW, my senses kept telling me that it felt exceptionally lonesome tonight. Soon I realised what it was: the house was devoid of the sounds from the TV.

TV programmes do not play a great role in my life that much. But Pa loves watching Taiwan's 中天频道. The news reporters with their high pitches spell out the day's events at a very fast pace. Quite frequently scenes of Taiwanese politicians shouting at the top of their lungs are also broadcasted freely on the channel. It goes without saying that the variety shows, portraying typical Taiwanese media culture, are really noisy too. The house is never quiet once the TV is turned on.

It was then that I realised the TV is my security blanket. Feelings of loneliness disappear when it is turned on. Not so much that the programmes keep me happy. But that it means someone is with me. Either mom's waiting for me to return home, or pa's keeping me company through my late night studying. The sounds make a difference, strange but true.

So as I was saying, today is Shutdown Day. In an unexpected twist of tale, the moral of the story is not whether my family survived the day without our TV or other tech gadgets, but rather that I am being cared for.

Cheers to our Moms and Dads!