Working in the Face of Disturbing News

The breach of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. was disturbing news last week. I found out about it at some point during a busy day at work where my attention was not on the minute-by-minute happenings of the pro-Trump demonstrations or the Congressional proceedings to certify the Electors. 

But work was interrupted when news eventually reached my ears. The news was that the Congressional proceedings were going to start. So I paid attention for a brief stretch. Since, at the time, the plan was for extended debate of the objections of some members of Congress to the results of the election, and therefore to some of the Electors to be certified, I didn't linger. It was back to work.

Shortly thereafter, though, the source that informed me of the commencement of the congressional debate interrupted again. The story: Demonstrators breached police lines and entered the Capitol building. Another pause, this one a bit longer. But then it was back to work again. I figured I could catch up with all this later and I really had to meet a deadline, so...

I caught up after the day's work was done. By now, we learned someone had been shot and died. And the police were augmented by National Guard and other federal security forces. You probably witnessed much of what I did, so I'll leave it at that.

There's a reason to bring this up today, almost a week later. 

First of all, we left our scheduled post up the next morning. No reason to comment on the previous day's events. If people were interested exclusively in what happened in Washington, they had plenty of other sources and didn't need another opinion about what actually went on and what the consequences would be. As a rule, you can't know exactly what went on when you read a report from the media. As for consequences, they're unfolding now. So focusing on all that then would have been, for the most part, a waste of precious time.

Second, this blog pretty much studiously avoids reacting to immediate current events. Lots of blogs try to exploit the emotions of the moment when stuff happens and is reported in the media. It's a way to garner readers, I suppose. But we've got our mission and piggybacking on something that just happened that raises your hackles isn't part of it. So we stuck with our intended message.

And the fact remained that most of us had work to do anyway. Even as the news was indeed disturbing, it wasn't the first time we had to work in the face of disturbing news. And aren't we expected to get our work done despite such circumstances?

I'm not talking about working just because it's what our boss, or our customers expect. That's important, of course. But there's more that compels us to get on with our work no matter what's going on around us. If we're dedicated to performing the duties of our state of life diligently each day, then that we must do. The world and its distractions can't drag us away - either physically, mentally, or emotionally - from the task at hand. In fact, the only time I can recall where the world did do that was 9/11. I was only a few blocks from the World Trade Center and work simply stopped - as you might imagine. But with that exception, even extraordinary events like those of January 6th have not - as they should not - serve as an excuse or even a reason why we don't get our work done.

None of this minimizes the drama of the day or the impact it has had and will have on us going forward. So it's not like I'm immune from the effects of what happened, or don't care about all this. I do. Among other things, I'm deeply concerned that some people have and will continue to exploit this event to further their agenda. And the agenda I'm concerned they may push is one that's, frankly, evil. So, yeah, I'm concerned. But I can't let even this distract me from my work - even as it tries to.

On a more personal note, as events unfolded and as subsequent news has penetrated my in-box and my consciousness, I've had one overriding thought, really a recollection, of the events surrounding the sickness and death of our son over two years ago. As you may remember, he had a massive stroke, lingered for 18 days in ICU in a coma, and died. Through it all, I kept at my work. I had to. I run a small business with no employees. I serve clients who rely in varying degrees on that work. If I could manage working in the face of that, then disturbing news really doesn't stand a chance at throwing me off stride for any appreciable length of time.

I hope you weren't then unduly waylaid from diligently performing the duties of your state of life, whatever it may be (single, married, clergy, religious). If you were, step back and figure out why. And I hope these subsequent days haven't found you overly distracted by that day, or the days that have followed.

More on this next time...