That It Should Come To This

This was the title of the post I tried to write after my induction at the cheese factory yesterday. I was feeling very sorry for myself after a morning of mind numbing health and safety videos followed by infantile quizzes.

I didn't really feel optimistic about my ability to work there while managing to simultaneously preserve my mental health.

I didn't write anything as I wasn't inspired to submit a self pitying rant when things could obviously be a great deal worse.

Thiis morning I'm off to work at the water factory which is a far more attractive proposition (although not exactly stimulating or challenging) so I thought I'd write an optimistic suymmary of yesterday's activities.

Needless to say as soon as I logged on I learned what had happened overnight in North Ossetia and feet even more self obsessed.

Last night we went around to our neighbours to watch the first preliminary AFL final featuring St Kilda and the Brisbane Lions. There was a news break at half time and I was dissapointed to see the stand off in Russia had fallen from the news agenda and had been replaced by what seemed to me to be mindless, parochial, local news stories.

I mentioned this and everyone agreed that the stuation in Russia was more important than anything on the news but it made me think about why it's important. Why should people in a remote Australian community care about what happens to a couple of hundred Russian schoolchildren?

No matter how many deaths occur the only impact it will have is via newspaper reports and pictures of the bloodied bodies of children carried in arm by rescue workers splashed momentarily on the TV news.

Would the people of North Ossetia care about a similar event on this island? Would the people of this island expect the world to take notice of hundreds of their children being held captive and murdered? Is the news coverage merely sensationalist story telling or does it serve a greater purpose?

Coincidentally one of the stories on last nights news-lite concerened a video of Martin Bryant shooting dead tens of Tasmanians during the Port Arthur Massacre. I'm know that event was given a great deal of coverage in the UK and probably around the world but I'm not sure whether the people of Tasmania would have wanted that any more than they would want to hear about the tragic deaths of Russian schoolchildren.