Nothing

Blue tarps. What do you think of? Until the last couple of weeks, I probably thought of the same things too. Not anymore. 

Now I think of roofs. Hundreds of tile roofs. Many look old enough to have been there before WWII. The blue tarps mark the quake damage. Sometimes the tarp is bunched up along the top ridge or the corner ridges. Sometimes spread out over a quarter or half of the roof. No more than that. No point saving a house with more damage than that. The tarp is weighted down with white sandbags. 

Looking out of the window on the train to Tokyo, I saw more blue tarps than I've ever seen. Just a few roofs here and there, but for mile after mile. Each is a story that may never be told. 

"It's nothing." And I thought Americans played the comparison game. Y'all are amateurs. 

Yes, it gets absurd when we're listening to tsunami victims who lost all their property, including their cars, and they say "but we didn't lose anyone in our family so it's really nothing." I'll buy that if you're joyful and overflowing with gratitude. But not with a tired voice and foggy eyes, and not with tears rolling down. 

Culturally, though, these people facing roof damage (and probably plenty of structural damage) are unlikely to tell their story. Those older houses don't look like rich people live there. Money is already tight. But they still have part of a roof over their heads. Nobody died. They're not part of the 26,000. It's nothing. 

Applaud them if you must. Stiff upper lip, positive thinking and all that. But I wonder if the poor will be poorer. If the extra pressure will bring extra trouble down the road. If roofing crews will be affordable in time to prevent irretrievable water damage. If the aftershocks put any of the residents in danger. When and how life will win. 

I'm taking a break in Yokohama now. And I have a textbook case of wanna-shake-'em-itis. Life is going on as usual here. I just saw those tarps dotting the landscape yesterday. Has everyone forgotten March 11? Doesn't the suffering of the Northeast mean anything around here?

How quickly I forget that I can't even name all of the prefectures (like states) anymore in the northern half of Japan. And that I've largely forgotten Haiti, Christchurch, Chile, and Mexico City. 

Simply lazing around and goofing off for a day has mended my attitude considerably. Still have a ways to go though. It's hard to switch back to a normal world. 

Even what little I've seen isn't nothing. 

Yep, I need this break.