Not This Again

            The explosions; the smoke and residue; people running – not knowing from what and not knowing to where.  The streets of Boston yesterday reminded me way too much of the streets of New York nearly twelve years ago.  My first reaction was shock; then disbelief; sadness; then anger.  Then I finally had the good sense and frame of mind to just sit down and pray for all of those who were injured, physically and emotionally, and especially for those who had lost their lives.  The scars of the family and friends of each of these will last for years and lifetimes.  The effect on our nation will be forever.

            We each have our way to mourn.  And those in the public eye sometimes have to make a quick decision which way is best for them.  If they choose the wrong one they will be ridiculed for years; if they choose the right way, they’ll be viewed as having a good and sincere nature. Being an entertainer at heart, I thought about the live-to-tape daily television shows and how they might handle it.  Would they cancel their shows in deference to the tragedy or go on with business as usual?

            Letterman, Leno and Fallon were on vacation and in reruns so there was no decision to be made.  But all the others – Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen DeGeneres addressed the situation either before or after the entertainment started.  Dancing With The Stars host Tom Bergeron – live from Hollywood – also acknowledged the people of Boston.  I was happy and proud of the way the entertainment industry reacted and involved itself.

            When the towers fell in 2001, we were on our tour bus on the way west to a series of late summer fairs.  When we arrived in Hutchinson, Kansas on September 12, we were prepared to cancel the date in honor of the horror that was consuming the entire country.  But it wasn’t our call.  Most all of our concert dates were our own and self-promoted so we had total autonomy over whether the show would go on or not.  But these were fairs and we were under contract to the state and the fair boards.  It was their call and their call was that you can’t postpone a State Fair.  They insisted we go on and we did.

            I remember just walking out and talking to the full house who had shown up as if in need of diversion.  I told them we didn’t want to be there and didn’t want to be doing this but then maybe this is what we all needed to be doing.  We sang a few songs and talked some more.  We eased into some comedy and finally hit a stride of escapism and a spirit of heart that was good for all of us on the stage and all of the folks in the audience.

            It isn’t always easy to know the right thing to do, but when you do it, you know it’s the right thing.  America will do it and it will be right and strong and we will prevail.

            I’m still in shock.  The sadness has not subsided.  I will pray for those in need.  I will pray that we capture those responsible.  And then I’ll work on praying for those responsible.  That may not come today because I’m just too human.  God knows that I don’t always come around as quickly as I should when it comes to seeking grace for the perpetrators.

I’ll get there, I hope, but today, I’m still angry. 

                                                 DSR

                                                4/16/13