33 Men

We don’t watch the news at our house. I made it a practice long ago to avoid newscasts because I just don’t like bad news. It’s not that every story should be touchy-feely and end in a happy way, but one can only take so much doom and gloom before they begin to wonder if there is anything good at all left in this cynical world of ours. Another reason I avoid the news is because I despise politics in every way shape and form. I find very few things more unsettling than a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people consistently focusing on who’s side is right on a particular issue rather than focusing on how to really dig down and fix the problem. I believe Buffalo Springfield said it best when they sang, “nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” If I had better solutions I would offer them, but because I don’t I keep my nose out of the political arena.

But I digress.

Rather than turn on one of the major news networks on my television, I turn to online sites for my news. That way, I can peruse the headlines and read only the stories that interest or pertain to me. Am I going to read about the rising or falling value of the yen? Probably not. Am I going to read about President Obama’s falling approval rating? Again, probably not. Am I going to read about the guy in New Jersey who raped his five daughters and impregnated some of them in order to bring about a pure bloodline for the deity that he believed himself to be? You bet. In the previous two stories the headline told me all I needed to know. The pervert in New Jersey, however, needed much more in depth evaluation (on so many levels). I know that that contradicts my claim above about too much doom and gloom in the news, but I am also a huge fan of human behavior and any story like this intrigues me to no end. For most other stories, I just read the headline and move on.

So, it was surprising to me that one day a few months ago when I came across a story about 33 Chilean miners who and been trapped in a mine and were feared dead I actually took the time to click on the link and read the article. Normally I would have read Chile (yawn), trapped (yawn), feared dead (yeah, probably), and not given it two thoughts, but for some reason I was drawn to this story. It wasn’t until much later that I was able to put my finger on why, but we won’t get to that just yet.

As I read on and on about these 33 men, I became intrigued with their situation. What was it like where they were at? Were they even still alive? If so, what kind of condition would they or could they be in? Were they together or separated? Did they get along before this ordeal so that even if they did survive and made it to the emergency area as they were trained to do, would there be a struggle over how to cope with their current situation? The questions were endless as I know that if you even just put a Democrat and Republican in a room with a key in the doorknob, they would argue for hours on whether to turn the key to the right or to the left to unlock it with neither one even realizing that the door was partially open . There were 33 (presumably) men down in this mine and I’m sure that there were more than likely 33 ideas on which way to turn that key. But that’s only if they were alive.

Due to my sparked interest, I checked back to this web page frequently for updates. For about a week, there was nothing more than speculation about their health and probable demise. Once the mine had been collapsed for about two weeks, the story slipped further and further down the “current headlines” column due to the assumption that these 33 miners would never be heard from again. Then, one afternoon I happened to check back and lo and behold, the Chilean officials had made contact with the miners and not only were they all alive, but they were all in good health and (especially now) good spirits. For 17 days those 33 men had never given up hope. For 17 days they had prayed and sung songs to keep their hearts light. For 17 days they had faith that their god, their country, and their strength would lead them through this seemingly hopeless ordeal. 17 days when many other men would have given up hope, these men persevered.

Then, of course, came the tricky part. Yes, the miners had been contacted and yes, they were all alive, but how soon could they be extracted? It seemed simple enough that if the rescue crew was able to bore a hole down to them to make contact in as little as 17 days then surely they could be brought above ground in about the same timeframe, right? Unfortunately, it was not that easy.

Early reports estimated that it would be November or possibly later before any of the 33 miners would be able to see the light of day. That would be over four months trapped in a darkened hellhole without being able to see the sunlight. Over four months trapped in a potentially rocky grave without direct access to basic things such as a shower or a delicious meal. Over four months without being able to physically touch and hold the family and friends that meant so much to them and were praying for their continued health and safety every day. That was when it hit me.

See, I’ve been down in one of those mines. It wasn’t in Chile and it wasn’t a copper mine, but I’ve descended over 1000 feet into the earth to get a tour of a mine in Kansas City, MO. My former fiancés father, Tom, was a foreman on a mine out there and one weekend while Amie and I took a trip out to visit him, he took me down into the mine and showed me around. Tom was always great to me and I considered him to be both a friend and a second father. When Amie and I went our separate ways one of the things I regretted most was that I was essentially losing a family and a friend. I’d seen Tom at his most fun and I’d also seen Tom at one of his lows. He got a call late one Saturday night that a young man on one of his job sites in Kentucky had tripped and fallen hundreds of feet down a mineshaft to his death. Tom was devastated and asked Amie and I to literally say a prayer on the spot for this man’s wife and young child. While we prayed, he fought back tears.

I soon realized that at a job where men put their lives in each other’s hands, you become a sort of family. There is a type of love and trust that has to exist for everyone to be able to do their job correctly. Not only are you responsible for taking care of your co-worker, you’re also responsible for taking care of his family. Tom understood that. These Chilean miners understood that as well. I can only speculate on it because I work in the comforts of a nice temperature controlled cubicle where my biggest obstacle is making sure I don’t get caught writing my blog when I’m supposed to be working, but these men knew each and every day that without the help and support of each other at all times, they may not make it back home to see their family. And with the possibility of four months stuck in a hole with each other, that help and support needed to be at a premium. These men were husbands, sons, brothers – and fathers.

As the days moved on and on and the three different drills set out their course to bore a hole down to the miners, I kept a close eye on which was moving the fastest. None could move fast enough but any progress was good progress and when I read that the second drill had reached the miners and the rescue team was preparing the evacuation procedure, I was overjoyed. Finally, these men would be able to see the sun. These men would be able to breathe fresh air. These men would be able to see and hold their families.

Finally, late Tuesday night, October 12 (US time), the first Chilean miner was brought to the surface. I was actually watching an old episode of “How I Met Your Mother” on WB when a news crawl came across the screen announcing the extraction of the first miner. I immediately turned to one of the news networks (after searching frantically for the channel number because, as I said, we don’t watch the news) and saw the miner hugging his family. For some reason, I got a little misty. As each successive miner was brought to the surface, I had the exact same reaction the moment they were able to embrace their wife, mother, brother, sister, and daughter, but I actually cried when they would be able to hug their son.

When the last miner was brought up this evening, I had Ben in my lap (against his will as I had interrupted an episode of Spongebob Squarepants) and tried to explain to him what this actually meant. I tried to explain that these men had been stuck in a basement that was really, really far underground and there were no stairs to climb up. I tried to explain that these 33 brave men were just doing their job one day when something went wrong. I also tried to explain that some of these men were daddies and they’d had to wait 69 very long days to be able to hug and kiss their little boys. He didn’t care, but I wouldn’t let him go. I couldn’t let him go. Had I been stuck in that mine, the thought of being able to hold him again would enable me to survive any amount of time. Any of you fathers, husbands, sons, or brothers out there know what I’m talking about.

Are these miners heroes? Possibly. Are they a symbol of hope, determination, and faith? You bet they are. I think the true heroes, however, may be the rescue workers who worked endlessly in various attempts to both reach and then remove the miners from their captivity. I think the true heroes are the mothers and wives who held their families together for 69 very harrowing days while their husbands and sons were trapped beneath the earth’s surface. And, I think the true heroes are the people of Chile who banded together in a time of crisis and let these men know that they are being prayed for and that their families were being taken care of. Times of crisis are when real heroes emerge and, for tonight and the past 69 days, the country of Chile has got them in spades. Tonight, I will go to sleep feeling a little better about this crazy, messed up world of ours.

Thanks for reading.