Sensitivity

I was born in Colorado, but I have lived in several states. A few years after I was born my family moved to Michigan, then Texas, and then California. Even though I had wonderful years in Michigan and Texas, California and Colorado have always had the greatest pulls on me. I spent my teenage and (many) college years in California, but something was always pulling me back to Colorado, so I came here for graduate school. I consider both home. Lately Colorado has become a refuge or a mecca for Californians. A lot of Californians have been moving here, and there is often a resentment from the Coloradoans toward the Californians. Quite frankly, a lot of people in Colorado hate Californians for the simple reason that they are from California.

Right now fires are raging in California and at the time of this posting about 127,000 acres have burned. The fires are so bad that the smoke has actually made it's way to Colorado, and our skies are so hazy and polluted that you can barely see the mountains. The land in California has burned, homes have been destroyed, and wildlife and people have been killed. What is happening is horrible, and you would think that people would feel sympathetic, but unfortunately that is not always the case. When reading the newspaper or watching TV, it's sad to see some reader or viewer comments saying things like "good, let it burn," or "we'd all be better off if California just fell into the ocean," or "they deserve it for building homes in the hills," or my personal favorite, "God is punishing California for their tolerance of gays." Well, if God punishes people for their tolerance of gays, then why does God always drop tornadoes on mobile home parks, because, let me tell you, gays don't live in mobile home parks! But I digress.

The point is, why do people feel the need to make these ludicrous comments when something this terrible is happening? Why bring your personal resentment or hatred or politics into the issue? This is an issue about humanity.

The ones making these types of comments are obviously worthless, pathetic trolls who have nothing better to do with their lives and who have absolutely nothing to offer the world. These are the people who are spineless and heartless and worth less that the foulest smelling thing in the sewers.

Fortunately I know that Colorado is a great state with a lot of great people, and the ones making these comments are just an isolated group and don't represent the state as a whole. This is a state that loves nature and the environment and we've had our own share of fire disasters. We're a lot more sensitive and sympathetic than the fools who spend their entire day posting comments to newsboards.