C is for Cheerless (Blogging From A to Z Challenge)

Co-pilot
It’s been difficult to turn on the news this past week without hearing stories about Andreas Lubitz, the Germanwings co-pilot who flew his plane into the French Alps killing himself and 150 other people. I’ll get back to Lubitz in a second.

A lot of people say suicide is a selfish act but I’m not sure that I agree. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be in such pain and to be so desperate and you’d not only make that decision, but that you’d have the guts to follow up on it.

You wonder why don’t people who kill themselves just get help for their depression, get themselves healed and live life? Imagine your finger is under hot water. You’re in pain, dreadful pain, so you pull your finger away and the pain goes away and you go about your business. But what if you can’t pull your finger away? What if the weight of the pain is such that you just can’t pull your finger away? The pain continues and gets worse and worse until… Help is out there for people, sure, and all they have to do is reach out for it, but what if the person’s thoughts and judgement are so affected by their mental illness – or their pain so devastating – that the idea of getting help doesn’t seem realistic or valid or doesn’t even occur to them? My thoughts are overly simplistic and I certainly have no answers other than to say that I feel terribly sad for people who kill themselves and the people they leave behind.

Back to Andreas Lubitz. I don’t feel sad for him. I think his decision to not find a way to escape his pain that didn’t involve the murder of 150 innocent people was an incredibly self-centered decision.

Collins
In more cheerless news, this time local, there’s a 10-year-old kid named Barway Collins whose been missing since March 18^th. The father is a prime suspect and police have been searching near the area of the Mississippi River where the father was seen shortly after the boy disappeared. Yesterday searchers found a red backpack that matches the description of Barway’s backpack in that area of the river but no one is saying if it’s his. You’ve heard stories like this too many times in the past and you know how it’s going to end and it breaks your heart.

Crappy
This isn’t really cheerless, it’d fall more under confusing. Or Cheerlessly Confusing. Don’t be fooled by Costco’s gigantic take-and-bake pizza and the low cost. That thing sucks.

Charlie
My dad’s name was Charlie and I miss him. 😦

= = = =

Well. This post has certainly been a chore, huh? Hopefully you don’t feel too crestfallen or crummy. Here’s some cheery news:

Cheered
I’m happy because I just found out that George Pelecanos has released a collection of short stories. The title is The Martini Shot: A Novella and Short Stories. If you’ve never read Pelecanos, and if you’re a fan of crime fiction, then you might want to give him a try.

In Conclusion: Chocolate
Check this out – scientists have figured out how to make chocolate healthier and tastier!