The only guy pumping his fists more than me was the second freed miner, who is such an international celebrity that he may be mistaken for a soccer star.
All 33 miners are now free.
Yes!
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/12/rescued-chilean-miner-returns-surface/
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/13/chile.miner.television.moment/index.html?hpt=C1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39662519/ns/world_news-americas/
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/12/gergen.miners/index.html
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/14/chile-second-half-rescues/
Today is a good day for all of humanity.
One billion people watched these miners get rescued. One out of every seven people in this world stopped what they were doing, even briefly, to root for and care about people they do not know and will never meet.
So many things go wrong in this world that it is an absolute marvel to think how many things needed to…and did…go right this time.
It starts at the top. I knew nothing about the President of Chile. What I do know is that he got one very big thing right. He immediately asked the world for help. Some leaders insist they can do everything on their own. This leader knew he needed help, and he quickly went and got it.
The technology had to be precise, making sure the cylinder rescuing the miners was lowered at the precise angle.
The medical personnel had to provide physical and emotional care for people.
The order of the miners was important, with the weakest miners being in the middle group. Releasing strong guys at the end makes sense, but a few strong guys in the beginning is important for psychology and morale.
As for the Chilean people, they are obviously a proud people. They have much to be proud of.
More than one miner emphasized how proud he was to be Chilean.
When I hear Lee Greenwood sing “God bless the USA,” my eyes well up with tears. This was especially true after 9/11.
To hear Chileans sing their national anthem…I do not have to know a word of Spanish to find it moving.
The second miner said that “God and the devil were fighting over me, and God won.”
I am not qualified to say if God saved these miners. What I do know is that many of them believe that God saved them, and that is good enough for me. If God got them through this tough time, then that is religion at its finest.
One cannot minimize the rescue workers across the world.
As an American, I am beyond proud that American technology helped contribute to this triumph of the human spirit. Americans are not perfect, but we are good people. We stood with Chile, and were rewarded with seeing human beings live. That is as good as it gets from a reward standpoint.
In the coming days this feel-good unity will fade, especially in America. After all, we have an election to fight about. I will get back to my typical snarky self tomorrow.
Yet for today, 33 miners have their lives.
Amazingly, some of them will go back to mining. More than a couple of them said that mining is what they know and what they do. Some love it. It is their passion.
Others are prepared to immediately retire, never setting foot in another mine.
The last miner rescued was the boss. He volunteered to be last because he was not going to leave without his men. That is heroism at its finest.
I know we live in a world where bombs go off, nations threaten other nations, and religious and secular conflicts rip this world asunder.
Yet for about 18 hours, it seemed like all of that stopped. We saw human beings, and we rooted for them. We prayed for them. Some people went into the mine with zero mining experience simply to rescue complete strangers.
Others sent medical supplies. One company donated expensive sunglasses. Another company donated technological expertise.
Not every story will end happy. One of the miners invited his wife and his mistress to the rescue. I question that decision. The mistress showed and the wife did not. Some people joked that this miner may have been safer spending a couple more days in the mine hiding.
These miners will have a long road ahead of them. There will be many tough moments. Yet at least they will have the chance to get through them because they are alive.
This was a good day, and a day to celebrate good.
The reason I believe good outweighs evil in this world is because when the chips are down…in this case way down trapped underground…we saw what the world is made of.
One billion people came together to support 33 strangers.
This was a victory for all of us.
We all needed this. So much suffering has resulted in so much loss and pain.
Like a sports team on a never-ending losing streak…we humans desperately needed a win.
We needed something to hang on to, something to hope and believe in again.
This was a big win for the human condition.
Tomorrow we can go do whatever it is we do.
Today, many of you like me see these 33 miners safe and sound, pump our fists, enjoy the sweet sound of the Chilean national anthem mixed in with soccer cheers, and loudly exclaim…
Yes!
eric