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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to just turn off the tv whenever Nepal comes on and ignore it

215 replies

nettlewine · 29/04/2015 06:46

It just upsets me too much and makes me feel useless. I've already given a donation.

I just feel like it doesn't affect me so I shouldn't feel the need to see all the brutal details as it doesn't achieve anything.

OP posts:
richthegreatcornholio · 29/04/2015 08:01

Britain's are among the missing. Still don't care?

No, no one I know. Couldn't give a flying fuck.

Kampeki · 29/04/2015 08:02

Who the fuck do you think you are? Why should you get to dictate what I can and can't comment on?

I don't get to dictate, unfortunately. However, I do get to ask why you would deliberately go out of your way to make yourself look like an ignorant fuckwit without an ounce of human decency.

lionheart · 29/04/2015 08:08

Probably just to be goady, I imagine, Kampeki.

I don't think YABU OP.

It's not as if you turn it off because you are a heartless fuckwit who doesn't give a shit.

sarascompact · 29/04/2015 08:08

There are those who watch and donate. There are those who watch but can't donate and those who feel useless because they can't and who turn off the TV.

Some people's charitable concern lies elsewhere, their funds go elsewhere and they feel there's nothing to be gained by watching. Some people watch out of morbid curiosity and some claim their interest in the more mawkish press coverage is nothing but educational and for the greater good.

Some people are just not interested in this particular news event.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and if they want to turn off the television, why shouldn't they? Their choice. They're not telling me or you to do it too.

Kampeki · 29/04/2015 08:10

Yeah, I know you're right lion. I shouldn't let it wind me up.

exmrs · 29/04/2015 08:11

Think katie Hopkins is on this thread

OrlandoWoolf · 29/04/2015 08:11

Some interesting new posters on MN recently. Just saying.

I was in Nepal for 2 months. It's heartbreaking to see what's happened to Kathmandu and the wider area. The infrastructure is not brilliant and it does not take much imagination to see what the earthquake can do.

The villages have also been hit. Unfortunately many of them are inaccessible by road so that just makes the whole situation worse.

CoolCadbury · 29/04/2015 08:12

Breaktakingly shocking views - they must be deliberately being goady.

I think that one of the reasons that the coverage has been quite emotional (call it intrusive if you like) is the special relationship that Britain has with Nepal has had for a very long time through the Gurkhas. The epicentre of the earthquake was slap bang in the middle of the region where ex-Gurkha soldiers live and where they recruit from. Things are looking bleak.

It's a poor country, it's main source of income (tourism) has been effected and will be effected for years to come, some of it's heritage medieval buildings have been damaged, thousands of people have died, many more have been injured, and it is a humanitarian crisis.

I know it's a lot to get your head around and is very upsetting. I'm not surprised that people are switching away from it if they can't cope emotionally. The main thing is to donate to DEC.

lionheart · 29/04/2015 08:14

Kampeki, it is hard not to sometimes. Smile

But I think there is a fine line between reporting to keep people informed and to inspire a response and a hideous voyeurism which crosses the line and turns suffering into a spectacle. Actually, in relation to some tv stations, the line is not very fine at all.

ohtheholidays · 29/04/2015 08:15

Like another poster put up.Thank God for the Gurkha's they are amazing people my Dad served along side them years ago and my Dad is still friends with the few that are left.

I can't understand any one that wouldn't care that such an awful tragedy has happened.I hope to God anyone that has a loved one over there trying to survive this disaster or has very sadly lost a loved one doesn't read this thread!

richthegreatcornholio · 29/04/2015 08:16

Kampeki maybe you should just consider that not everyone thinks like you and that others are just as entitled to share their opinions as you.

frostyfingers · 29/04/2015 08:16

Actually whatatit I find that sweeping generalisation of "Take no notice of Rich the tory twat" pretty unpleasant. I vote Tory (shock, horror) but that does not make me immune/indifferent to what is going on in Nepal. I have donated and will continue to do so when these horrible things happen. Rich may be a twat, but don't assume all Tories think like that!

hackmum · 29/04/2015 08:17

We'd all been wondering what Katie Hopkins's nickname on MN was and now we know - hi, rich!

I think that making a donation and not watching is better than watching and not making a donation. If I was one of the affected people in Nepal, I know what I'd prefer.

I almost never watch tv news anyway, so I hear about Nepal on the radio/read about it in the newspaper. And yes, I have made a donation.

sugarman · 29/04/2015 08:19

I can't watch it. I have lived through a devastating earthquake and I cannot bring myself to relive the trauma. I feel very tearful every time I think of Nepal. Sometimes all you can do is donate cash.

whatatit · 29/04/2015 08:22

It was supposed to be unpleasant, frosty.

RufusTheReindeer · 29/04/2015 08:23

I wouldn't pay any attention to rich or chiefbrody

They seem to appear, make snotty comments and bugger off again

If it was my child doing that I would say they were attention seeking

eyebags63 · 29/04/2015 08:23

YANBU. It just gets tiring hearing of these types of disaster all the time.... you start to suffer from empathy fatigue and become completely desensitised to these kind of events.

For me I got thoroughly sick of all the sex scandal / child abuse / jimmy savile stuff in the news a little while back. You reach a stage where you think "FFS, change the subject!".

MehsMum · 29/04/2015 08:23

After a really busy few days, meaning to donate and not getting around to it, the callous bastard posters on this thread who just don't give a shit have inspired me to go and get my credit card out. Some people need to learn a bit of human compassion.

I don't blame anyone for not watching the TV coverage (I barely watch the TV news, because I find the radio news bad enough).

Koalafications · 29/04/2015 08:24

Some interesting new posters on MN recently. Just saying.

Indeed.

FoulsomeAndMaggotwise · 29/04/2015 08:24

OP I don't watch it either. I don't watch anything upsetting - I've just had a baby and I can't deal with the emotional upset. I havent donated either because I only have the money to look after my own children.

Some of you would have me think I'm an awful person because of that.

Sometimes all we can do is look after our own interests when the interests of the wider world are just too overwhelming.

Kampeki · 29/04/2015 08:25

Kampeki maybe you should just consider that not everyone thinks like you and that others are just as entitled to share their opinions as you

I'm well aware of this, rich. However, I reserve the right to draw my own conclusions about people on the basis of what they post. Others will judge as they see fit.

You have made it very clear what sort of person you are. You have a right to be that way. There is no law against being ignorant, callous or unpleasant.

As for me, I am very worried about what is going on in Nepal right now, and have been able to think of little else over the past few days. I have dear friends there who are in a desperate situation. I don't expect everyone to be as preoccupied with this news as I am, obviously, but to come on here and say that you couldn't care less is just offensive and upsetting. Why bother expressing such vile views?

I can only conclude that you're trying to be goady, so I'm not going to engage with you any more.

chiefbrody · 29/04/2015 08:25

*I wouldn't pay any attention to rich or chiefbrody

They seem to appear, make snotty comments and bugger off again*

I make comments and sometimes not return for sometime because I have a life.
I am not glued to the laptop.....

QuintShhhhhh · 29/04/2015 08:26

What happened in Nepal is terrible. The Tsunami was terrible. Natural disasters show us how powerless we are, and how much destruction can be made, without any human involvment (other than the philosophical and hypothetical in terms of "what could we have done to predict this, and what steps could we have taken to minimize impact")

I think it can be justified to to turn off the tv and avert your gaze a little, it is just too frightening. We cant do anything, unless we are trained especially to help in such cases. Throwing money at the problem is all we realistically can do. So lets make sure we give if we can, if our situation allows it. And if we cant afford to donate, then that is fine too.

Where I dont think we can turn a blind eye, is when disasters are man -made, then we need to really look closely, feel, empathize, and see it as our role to see what we can do in our lives that can prevent such bad things. What our role as parents are, how we instruct our young. How we act to one another to avoid causing each other distress. Bullying, ignorance, racism, lack of understanding of each-others faith, sexual orientation. We can be the best we can be, and teach our children to act with kindness and without prejudice. That is what we can do.

So OP, you can turn off the TV to avoid watching footage from Nepal, but look at what is happening in Baltimore, look at what is happening in Syria, IS gaining a stronghold in Africa. These are examples of events that we as humans need to read about and watch, and where we cannot turn a blind eye. Even if we dont act, we need to open our hears and our mind to events that shape our world.

CoolCadbury · 29/04/2015 08:28

eyebags63 we don't hear of these types of disaster all the time - it is exceptional - THAT is why there is so much coverage.

richthegreatcornholio · 29/04/2015 08:29

I make comments and sometimes not return for sometime because I have a life.
I am not glued to the laptop.....

Yep, me too.