A Whole Lot of Judging Going On

I know. This is supposed to be a blog about breast cancer, not controversy. But I feel the need to write about this.

Like many of you, I’ve probably been reading way too many articles and blogs about people’s reactions to the marathon bombings and, in particular, the shelter-in-place, city-wide lockdown on Friday.

And here’s the thing: There’s too much judging going on. I was in Arlington with my family on Friday. Arlington did not have a shelter-in-place in effect; however Arlington is right near Belmont. And Cambridge.  And although sure, I could have taken my children outside to play when they asked to play soccer (which we ended up doing in the living room instead), I didn’t feel safe doing so. The news was unclear; was the second bombing suspect on the road—remember the license plate number that was falsely advertised for a while? Was he wearing a body vest full of explosives like his brother did? Was there a chance he could drive into Arlington, right onto my sleepy little street and blow himself and my whole family up? Highly unlikely, but yes. There was a chance. There’s always a chance, right?

I’m pretty sure all these people who got injured standing near the finish line never thought such a thing could happen to them. They never thought they’d be those people standing in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. And, speaking from personal experience, I’m also pretty sure that anyone who has ever picked up a ringing telephone only to hear from the young nurse on the other end that their biopsy has come back positive for cancer never thought it would happen to them. But it does. And it can. No one gets outta here alive, anyway.

Fortunately, I don’t walk around every day feeling this way. Worrying that I will get hit by a bus crossing the street or struck by lightning or whatever calamity my worst-case-scenario husband might dream up (although he’s relaxed a bit over the years, thankfully). But if my city is on lockdown and there are men with explosives nearby, I have every right to legitimately feel afraid. Please don’t judge me. And don’t judge my city.

One of the first articles I read that ticked me off was by an official-sounding person from a foreign country who chastised Boston for their overreaction. We are simply giving the terrorists what they want; we are allowing ourselves to be terrorized. I get it. And I’m not writing to argue about this point. But the choices that were made last week and on Friday were made to keep people in this city safe, which in my mind is more important than anything. No?

So basically here’s what I’ve ultimately come to say:

Those of you who feel the need to judge others about what’s already been done and can never be undone, please shut up and move on.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

The Management

 p.s. If you're curious, feeling good and still bald....