When a lot of bad news happens in one week, it can be really easy to feel like like the world is out to get you. It makes us hyperaware of more bad things. There’s never a pattern until the human brain just makes one up.
Except this week is turning out to be a little scarier than most.
On Monday, the Boston Marathon was bombed, an event that will surely continue to shape conversations in American politics and the press.
On Wednesday, at least two more unexpected things happened.
One: The press confirmed, unconfirmed and reconfirmed that authorities had made an arrest in connection with the Boston bombings. Reputable sources such as CNN and the Associated Press were cited on Twitter with that news.
Then, the FBI hosted a news conference — one that about 1,000 reporters and bystanders attended — at Boston’s federal courthouse, where it was suspected the person in custody was being held. But, as the FBI pointed out, they had arrested no one in connection with the case.
“No one has been arrested in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, local police and federal authorities said Wednesday after a spate of media reports indicated that someone was in custody and headed to court,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
That sounds like the big-time 24-hour-news-cycle media outlets; somehow they get caught up in the fact that there might be a break in the story instead of waiting for actual results. Jump-the-gun methods aside, the really weird part started soon after that announcement.
“We are evacuating the building,” members of the Boston Police Department told the crowd outside the courthouse at about 3 p.m., according to the article. “During the evacuation, vehicles from U.S. Department of Homeland Security pulled up in front of the building. Law enforcement officers carrying long guns stood nearby.”
Basically, a bomb scare happened in the courthouse where the announcement was made regarding the Boston bombings’ potential suspect.
Two: Poison-laced letters were sent to a U.S. senator and to President Barack Obama.
“The letters included the phrase, ‘To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance,’ and were signed, ‘I am KC and I approve this message,’” according to a Reuters article.
Both of these events wouldn’t normally create such a big scandal, but when they’re placed in the context of the other national events this week, it’s a little cause for concern.
Not that we need to constantly fear or worry, but we wish that everyone would just calm down.
We, as a country, deserve a break. Give us a chance to heal and calm down before you start the next crazy scandal. It’s too much work to be so scared.
