What if I had to?
The new TV season continues... and it seems some old shows are back with some new twists.
Tonight was the season premier of Las Vegas (one of the guilty pleasure shows that I kind of got hooked on a season or so ago). There's three things I like about this show: it's got James Caan in it (that's always a good thing); it's generally amazingly fun (mainly because James Caan gets to be all sorts of mysterious and nasty when he needs to be); and it actually gives Nikki Cox a chance to act (hey, I knew she had talent back when I saw her in Unhappily Ever After where she was just a Kelly Bundy wannabe).
Last season ended with Danny (the casino's head of security, played by Josh Duhamel) being called back in to active duty. This season picked up a few months later with him showing back up, looking nowhere near as suave and stable as he had when he left. This was probably the darkest episode of the show they've had so far.
The show dealt with Danny's post traumatic stress at having to call in an air strike that took out his entire squad, leaving him as the only survivor.
That's a heavy burden to bear, being the only one who survives. Especially when you're the one who's responsible for the carnage.
Of course, because I watch TV with my brain on (instead of off like most of the audience), this got me thinking. How would I deal with something like that? How would I deal with having condemned a bunch of people, people on my own team, to death?
The only answer I've been able to come up with so far is: "I'd survive." I can't say that I'd be happy about it, or even all that stable for a good long time after the event. But I would survive. In a war situation, it would be considerably easier to live with.
But things like that don't just happen in wars. They happen every day.
There was a guy I went to high school with. He was a few years younger. He was also in my scout troop for a while and his father helped us put an addition on our house. His name was Danny, too.
His father died suddenly two summers ago. Danny was in town with his wife (who I also went to high school with) for the funeral. After the funeral, Danny, his wife and two of their other friends went out. I'm not sure exactly what was involved, but knowing the group the way I did, I can be pretty sure there was a lot of alcohol involved and probably some weed (at the absolute least).
The car must have been going pretty fast when it went off the road, bounced off the telephone pole and ended up turned over on some poor soul's lawn. Three of the four people in the car died that night. Danny and his wife were two of them. They had just had a kid. The other guy who died had a kid, too.
The only one to survive was the driver.
He lost his three best friends that night.
I'm not sure how I'd deal with something like that. Something that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was squarely on my own stupid shoulders.
In a war, I could deal with it. On an otherwise regular day...
Now that's tough.
Tonight was the season premier of Las Vegas (one of the guilty pleasure shows that I kind of got hooked on a season or so ago). There's three things I like about this show: it's got James Caan in it (that's always a good thing); it's generally amazingly fun (mainly because James Caan gets to be all sorts of mysterious and nasty when he needs to be); and it actually gives Nikki Cox a chance to act (hey, I knew she had talent back when I saw her in Unhappily Ever After where she was just a Kelly Bundy wannabe).
Last season ended with Danny (the casino's head of security, played by Josh Duhamel) being called back in to active duty. This season picked up a few months later with him showing back up, looking nowhere near as suave and stable as he had when he left. This was probably the darkest episode of the show they've had so far.
The show dealt with Danny's post traumatic stress at having to call in an air strike that took out his entire squad, leaving him as the only survivor.
That's a heavy burden to bear, being the only one who survives. Especially when you're the one who's responsible for the carnage.
Of course, because I watch TV with my brain on (instead of off like most of the audience), this got me thinking. How would I deal with something like that? How would I deal with having condemned a bunch of people, people on my own team, to death?
The only answer I've been able to come up with so far is: "I'd survive." I can't say that I'd be happy about it, or even all that stable for a good long time after the event. But I would survive. In a war situation, it would be considerably easier to live with.
But things like that don't just happen in wars. They happen every day.
There was a guy I went to high school with. He was a few years younger. He was also in my scout troop for a while and his father helped us put an addition on our house. His name was Danny, too.
His father died suddenly two summers ago. Danny was in town with his wife (who I also went to high school with) for the funeral. After the funeral, Danny, his wife and two of their other friends went out. I'm not sure exactly what was involved, but knowing the group the way I did, I can be pretty sure there was a lot of alcohol involved and probably some weed (at the absolute least).
The car must have been going pretty fast when it went off the road, bounced off the telephone pole and ended up turned over on some poor soul's lawn. Three of the four people in the car died that night. Danny and his wife were two of them. They had just had a kid. The other guy who died had a kid, too.
The only one to survive was the driver.
He lost his three best friends that night.
I'm not sure how I'd deal with something like that. Something that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was squarely on my own stupid shoulders.
In a war, I could deal with it. On an otherwise regular day...
Now that's tough.