Of Camels and Consequences.

It's not about the straw.

Straw is not really what causes the problem. It is never about one piece of straw. That is what is so easy to forget. When the camel is writhing in pain and destroying everything around it, no camel handler/wrangler/guide removes just once piece of straw and then berates the camel for not getting back on its feet and back to work. It's always about everything that came before the straw.

It's not about the straw.

I haven't listened to any pundits telling us how to fix the camel. I haven't listened to the camel's critics or the handler's critics. I've seen some footage, read some information, tried to separate fact from fiction. On Facebook everyone is talking about the straw. Was the straw too heavy? Did the handler use the wrong kind of straw? Isn't the camel overreacting to one piece of straw? Wasn't the straw placed following proper procedure? Caw, Caw, Caw, let's all talk about the straw.

It's not about the straw.

I admit, I tend to focus on the straw. That is what just happened, right now. That is what is immediate. That is what shocked us. Besides, the rest of it is under blankets and ropes. The rest of the burden is just business as usual. The rest is stuff that has been put on other camels since ages past and they did just fine. It never caused anything to break before. It was the straw that did it. That measly little piece of straw. Silly camel making such a fuss over one piece of straw.

It's not about the straw.

How long did the camel grin and bear it? How many loads made hairline fractures in the vertebrae? How much more could the camel take? Apparently not even a little bit more. How much straw was already on there? Has anyone checked? What is the load bearing capacity of this camel anyway? Really it couldn't handle another piece of straw? Come on!

It's not about the straw.

I don't know any of these answers. I don't live there. I don't shoulder their daily burden. I have my own load to carry. That is the only one I can truly know. Would the straw be too much for me? Maybe. That kind of thing is hard to deal with. Would it crush me and mine until we are writhing in agony and tearing up the place? I don't think so, it would be devastating, but I think we could handle the straw, at least, I'd like to think so.

It's not about the straw.

So what do you and yours do when there is a knock at the door to say that the unspeakable has happened? Can we honestly use us to analyze them? Maybe we can compare straws. Burdens, however, are much harder to compare.What looks light to me might be crushing to you. What I can handle easily for a short while, you might have had to bear since before your father's father's father was born. Could I bear that load for that long? There is no way to know for sure. After all, it's easier to compare straws. How to express a load you have been under for so long you forgot it wasn't a part of you? How to make someone who has never tasted that pressure, that soul-crushing weight? It's really just so much easier to talk about the straw.

It's not about the straw.

Was procedure followed? Who knows.  It seems so, but when procedure sometimes gets ignored, it is hard to believe that anyone paid attention to it this time. Maybe on this straw it was followed. But see, it's not about this straw. Was it justified? Was he guilty? Was he truly threatened? Was he truly threatening? Did Michael Brown steal something and then hit an officer? Did Officer Darren Wilson overreact and shoot at the first black man he saw? You say I'm leaving out some things and I got some of the details wrong. I am not describing the straw correctly.

It's not about the straw.

Losing a child, I don't want to even imagine. I have lost family and it is agony. For it to be my child is unfathomable. Shooting someone, I don't want to know what that is like. I have heard stories of having to kill someone in the line of duty. It changes you. There is no doubt, this is an immense tragedy. Nobody gets out of this without some scars. But that is just the straw. The last one. The one piece that was just too much. The...final...straw. Does it merit the response it is getting from Michael Brown supporters and Darren Wilson supporters? I don't know. It doesn't matter.

It's not about the straw.

Grand Jury, right or wrong? The straw.
Police justified in their response? The straw.
People destroying their own neighborhoods? The straw.
That is what all the discussion is about. The straw

We assume it would never happen in an upper middle class neighborhood. Maybe not. Because, who can compare the burden? Maybe we should spend less time analyzing this moment and more time trying to figure out why. Or more precisely, what. When a whole lot of people start acting in an unusual way, maybe it's time to figure out what else was piled up there. Maybe help out the suffering camel, fix what is broken, and take a look at that giant burden. Because, whatever else it might be about,

It's not about the straw.