Life Is So Fragile

Yesterday, I arrived in Palm Springs for the International Festival of Short Films (my company is a sponsor), and was able to screen five short films. The last film had such an unusual story attached to it. The filmmaker, Alexis Echavarria, was only 15 when he made his film, "18 Minutes," and was a remarkable filmmaker. But, sadly, he passed away just before his film made it into the film festival. Apparently, he had gone to Thailand for four weeks to help the tsunami victims with recovery, and when he got back, he contracted a virus from which he died.

I couldn't stop thinking about this boy, who had done so much in his life already, at the age of 16, more than I have even attempted to do. He had already written and directed a film, and he had selflessly gone to help those less fortunate than him. But I also thought about how fragile life is. No matter how brilliant you are in your chosen work, no matter how selfless you are, no matter what your beliefs are, we are all susceptible to death and disease.

It's what I think about more and more, as we watch our country run from natural disasters, which can only be followed by human disasters, including disease. I wonder if I am protecting my son and my future child as best I can, knowing that there are people who carelessly transmitting diseases. I watch in horror as the news reports on this avian flu, what they are saying could be a pandemic this winter, and it's a flu you die from. There is no flu shot that can help you ovecome it, at least not yet. We are never exempt. It could hit us as much as the next family. There is nothing we can do about it, either, except try to protect our family as best we can.

But, as I said in my last post, I am not going to dwell on what I can't fix right now. I certainly don't trust our government to help us out anymore, though. I think, unfortunately, because of who is running our government, we must all think of ourselves and our families first. Let's face it, when disaster hits, all those politicians aren't going to care about you. They are going to be more concerned with their own friends and family. They are going to have their own personal helicopters and airplanes to get them out of the disaster area, with plenty of food and supplies. It's the general citizen who should be worrying right now. And to think we have another three years of watching this idiot run our country into the ground.

I think it's time for a woman president. Let's shake things up a little.