Fire

This past weekend there was a very sad story in the news about a family living in a mobile home in West Virginia who were all killed in a fire caused by the kerosene heater they used to help keep warm. A forty year old man, his 36 year old wife and three small children all fell victim to the smoke and fire. Very tragic to be sure. Their home was burned pretty much to the ground with nothing left but ashes and bits of their burnt possessions. Naturally their neighbors and loved one were and are overcome with grief and sadness and needed a way to express those feelings. I'm embarrassed to admit that the way some of them expressed their emotion left me laughing hysterically for the rest of the news report. I know I'm not right in the head but hear me out - what some of these grief stricken folks did was to LEAVE LIT CANDLES at the burned out home of these poor people. Now I don't know about you but I don't really think bringing FIRE to a site where a family has just died in a FIRE is really such a good idea. My friends have argued that they were just trying to be thoughtful but i disagree with that BS. What they were doing was pure reaction without thought. They were doing what is common and traditional, despite the underlying inappropriateness of it. If they had been thinking they should have realized that the site of little burning flames on the site where people's friend's and family members just died from a fire might not be the most comforting image. Balloons maybe... teddy bears... flowers are always a nice touch. Really the most appropriate thing to leave would probably had been wreaths. But candles? FIRE?? uhm... I just can't help but find that incredibly funny. I mean, given what had already happened there maybe leaving a fire extinguisher there would be a good idea - especially with people leaving unattended candles there.

I know I'm not right in the head but that's just the way I think...