Home > So, what do you think? > Archives > 2008 > June > 16
Monday, June 16, 2008
When the news is so bad, it hurts
Here’s an editorial that will run in Tuesday’s edition of the Telegram:
There are times when news is so awful it’s impossible to make sense of it all.
Last week began with a jubilant Rocky Mount homecoming of National Guard troops from Iraq. By midweek, we found ourselves reeling in the wake of a nursing home shooting that left two people dead and one person wounded. By Friday we were all but numb trying to comprehend the cruelty of a case in which a 13-year-old boy was tied to a tree for “misbehaving.” He died Thursday afternoon.
The mind sinks asking just the simplest of questions. Why? How? What were they thinking? No easy answers arrive and probably never will. It’s so awful it hurts.
The Twin Counties community has worked together to overcome so much through the years. From hurricanes to floods to fostering better relations among ourselves to welcoming refugees from Katrina to lending a hand and support to causes as great as the Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army and more.
We’ve seen this community at its best under the worst circumstances imaginable. Sadly, we’ve seen its worst in times of senseless tragedy.
We’re good people. We have differences of opinion, sure, but that’s only natural when two or more people have different ideas about what’s best for a community.
We’ll pull back together in the wake of this, and one of the big-hearted souls who makes Rocky Mount so caring will find a way to make yet another positive difference in this world.
You can’t imagine how much we look forward to reporting that kind of news again.
