By Mandy Feder
I have never met Chie Kyo in person. She was one of my Uncle Mark”s students. He told me she loved the Red Hot Chili Peppers, especially Anthony Kiedis.
OK, we have that in common.
Any friend of my Uncle Mark is assuredly a friend of mine.
Chie and I have been e-mail pals for a bit. Uncle Mark told Chie that I had met the Red Hot Chili Peppers before.
True, on a trip to the NAMM show in Los Angeles some time back, I did have the pleasure of speaking with the band members for a few minutes. They were all interesting and very gracious.
A few months ago Chie came to California from Japan. She asked if we could meet for coffee, but she was in L.A. and it was too far. She hoped we might get to see the Chili Peppers together. I agreed, that would have been cool, if time would have just allowed.
Now she”s in Tokyo amid the chaos far, far away from starry-eyed rock ”n” roll fantasies and daydreams.
I wonder what she sees and how she feels. She says she”s fine and thinking of those in devastated areas. It”s unfathomable to me, the destruction, the sadness and powerlessness of nature ravaging through sturdy structures like something from a movie.
We go on.
We watch newscasts and YouTube videos, the surreal impact and anguished emotion of loss is a series of images, but cannot be captured by the five senses, just how it must feel.
Not that I would want to feel the totality of that experience, but I do want to know how this young woman copes.
There isn”t a notable shift in the cares of those people I see daily. Mostly everyone just powers through their days with the same ease or difficulty as usual over here. I mean angry people still take out their frustration on store clerks and countless others they encounter.
Pleasant people remain pleasant.
I sense that most people wish to feel the empathy or sympathy, but it isn”t real enough or maybe they”re numb from all the devastation in the world. Sometimes the sound of the concern seems to fall flat and sound hollow.
Since the big quake, I have been in contact with a few folks who absolutely absorbed the impact of this terrible human tragedy.
Paul, the guy who owns the shop where I get my oil changed, did say on Monday, “life is a blessing today. I feel so badly for those folks in Japan.” I could tell he meant it. By the look on his face, I saw it was heavy in his heart. “Just wish there was something, anything, I could do right now for them.” He held his head down and moved it slowly side-to-side.
It does feel overwhelming. Money alone cannot possibly remove the absolute terror people felt as the low rumble approached them, shook the ground and leveled homes, businesses, bridges, parks and the entire familiar landscape.
This would only be followed by more bad news, tsunamis, aftershocks and the threats posed by compromised nuclear reactors.
Chie posted the following on her Facebook on March 12: “The government upgraded the size of the quake from 8.8 to 9.0M. They say this is once in 1,000 years frequency type of unusual occurrence. Northeastern part of Japan is especially suffering serious damage. I pray for people out there for sooner and smoother rescue, relief, restore and revive.”
Shoot, I cannot say that I can find words or solutions.
All I can think is, we could be better to each other and make the world a more peaceful place.
In some way, any way you can, anywhere you are, be a shelter in somebody”s storm.
“I don”t ever want to feel like I did that day. Take me to the place I love, take me all the way.” – Red Hot Chili Peppers, Under the Bridge
Mandy Feder is the Record-Bee managing editor. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32.
