If the events of this past week were a movie, it would be a blockbuster.
The ads:
“Action packed”, “You will be on the edge of your seat”, “An emotional rollercoaster”, “At movie’s end, your faith in humankind will be restored”.
The plot:
A terrorist attack on a major US City. A huge explosion in a rural Texas town. Letters with a deadly poison received by a Senator and President. An earthquake in China . All within just a few days.
The unlikely hero of this film? People. The city of Boston. The town of West Texas. Runners. First responders. Ordinary citizens. Us.
The Reviews:
Praise for the performances of Ed Davis, Deval Patrick, First Responders, Volunteer Firefighters, Boston Police Officers and Medical Personnel. The performance of the media was disappointing.
After approximately two hours of intense emotions and non-stop action, we would all walk out of the darkened theater, our eyes blinking due to the daylight. There’d be that feeling of coming back to the real world after being fully immersed in the fantasy world of a movie. “Where did we park the car?”
Workplaces, schools, stores, parks and dinner tables would be filled with conversations about this movie. There would be discussions everywhere about the plot, the characters, and debate about the movie’s ending. New details would be discovered and discussed almost constantly for some time.
This movie would sweep the Academy Awards. The audience would be on its feet cheering at the clip. It would be on the 100 must-see movie lists of nearly every film show host.
AND YET——
As difficult as it seemed at times, it was not a movie.
This was real life. It was a week the likes of which we thought we would never see.
But we made it.
The world is still turning.
Sometimes, life really is much stranger than fiction.
There will be a movie. Someone will surely to make a movie so that we can relive this past week. They will realize that they can make money off of this past week. In fact, I’ll bet that there is a screenplay in progress right now. Probably several. My guess is that the movie will be in theaters within the year.
No, thanks. Once is enough for me.
Just My Life 
You put my thoughts about last week into the exact words I was feeling. I can’t tell you how many times I said to my hubby, “this is like the crime shows I watch and it’s real life!”
By: Paula in NH on April 23, 2013
at 7:42 am
As a side story you can add the ongoing Exxon pipeline disaster in Arkansas where Exxon buys off the FAA so there will be no dramatic aerial news coverage of their cover up. And the attempt to buy off the residents with their ill gotten gains. We don’t want to endanger those pipeline projects.
Yes, it’s all the drama of everyday life in modern America only more powerful than Hollywood’s imagination.
By: Jon on April 23, 2013
at 11:14 am
It has been a crazy week! I hope the crazy (events AND people) settle down and let us enjoy some peace (while the previews roll.)
By: jannatwrites on April 25, 2013
at 12:17 am
But we have had others of those weeks (and will have more), where the sorrow and the crazy just seems to pile up. Fortunately, always accompanied by people at their best.
By: Secret Agent Woman on April 26, 2013
at 7:46 pm
Weeks like this are happening somewhere all over the world. We just do not expect them so close to home. Sometimes it can be too overwhelming, so we must do what we can, and then perhaps monitor our consumption of news.
By: sweffling on April 28, 2013
at 5:06 am
Total agreement here: I kept saying, “This is cinematic, like someone scripted it, from the characters to the pacing to the unbelievable plotting. I can’t believe this is real.”
The intersection of media and “real” continues to merge.
By: Jocelyn on April 28, 2013
at 4:34 pm