I never really got the whole “Too Soon” thing. The people who stop caring about a tragedy a few weeks or months after it happened are the people who weren’t really much affected. You’re not going hear the parents or children of the dead go around thinking it’s appropriate for others to make jokes about their dead relatives just because a set amount of time has passed. A tragedy does not become less tragic just because it happened a long time ago. Either joking about the dead is okay, or it isn’t.

It’s always been okay to mock ridiculous circumstances surrounding or related to a tragic event. It has never been, and still isn’t, okay to make dumb jokes about the victims of said event.

Now, the only people who really seem to give a shit about “Too Soon” are the people who watch it on the news, and think “Those guys must feel awful”, the people who have no actual connection to what happened aside from something trivial like it happening to someone of the same species as them, more so if it happened to members of the same nationality or whatever.

The reason people joke or make insensitive comments is because this has been going on too long, and in too high of a quantity. People NEED a bit of comedic relief. In some ways, it’s humor that is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. Of course there are lines or responsibility that are crossed when mixing comedy and tragic events. And forget having time to joke, there is barely enough time trying to spread the truth on what actually happened.

Some might say, anyone who’s ever worked in very intense situations knows the type of gallows humor that doesn’t offend people in that situation, but alleviates tension and anxiety through some sort of levity. From the ER to ambulance drivers to PE, military and Fire Dept. Sarcastic comments and observations off the cuff are a way of dealing. It’s human. Not one tone is right for all people whether total somberness or not.

Some might also dub social media as some kind of great evil, big brother ploy to keep tabs on private citizens. While it does have its faults, foibles and follies; social media is uniting the world and helping to propagate a sensible, rational thinking society. Rather than fueling the fires of hysteria with rumors and misinformation, at times…social media and its associated technology proves to be a force for good. We are doing better, I have to believe that.

As a society, we have been bombarded by news of shootings, stabbings, and bombs since 911. Or Since Columbine. Or Norway. Or Newtown. And now, Boston. One after another, no time to reflect, and no time to consider as space…and then we go right to Facebook, or Twitter or Social Media platform of choice where the aim seems to be to garner the most likes.

Is this why we search for comedy out of tragedy? And exactly, how much time are we talking about anyway?

-Dagobot
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