Details are still hazy in regards to yesterday’s horrifying explosions during the Boston Marathon and while facts remain unclear, it’s easy to let your anger and your imagination get away from you. Twitter, Facebook feeds and real life dinner tables are alive with discussions of who’s to blame for what and, for the most part, these conversations are not productive. If anything, they tend to breed fear and an even bigger sense of uncertainty. So instead, let’s focus on what we do know about yesterday: One person (maybe a small group of people) committed a devastating and violent act; countless people responded to that act with courage, heroism and kindness. That ratio isn’t to be discounted.
As Patton Oswalt pointed out in his well-circulated Facebook missive, “You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out.” The first responders acted quickly and effectively, marathon runners who were not injured continued to run past the finish line and to the hospital in order to give blood. Boston residents were offering up food and a living rooms for runners and spectators who didn’t have a place to go.