In the arms of a stranger
December 21, 2014 8:36 PM Subscribe
In an emergency, would you hand your baby over to a stranger you had just met? This is the story of a mother who did just that.
Yeah, the beginning is a bit hard to parse, because the author is being cutesy about people and places rather than just saying it plainly and getting on with the storytelling. If you make it to the end of the first section, they actually give proper names to the principals, the cyclone, and the setting.
posted by axiom at 8:59 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by axiom at 8:59 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Me too! Here's what apparently happened in amongst the purple prose:
Pamela gave Michael (the baby) to Jane (the stranger) to get him to safety.
Jane got him to his grandparents after long harrowing plane and bus rides. But Pamela didn't know what happened to him for several days, because it took so long. But then he got to his family safely.
He got back to Pamela and his brothers and grew up.
But Jane didn't know the end of the story for 40 years.
That's it. But author James Purtill keeps you on the hook for it with irritating asides for a long time to find out. Sheesh. Tell the damn story.
posted by emjaybee at 9:01 PM on December 21, 2014 [20 favorites]
Pamela gave Michael (the baby) to Jane (the stranger) to get him to safety.
Jane got him to his grandparents after long harrowing plane and bus rides. But Pamela didn't know what happened to him for several days, because it took so long. But then he got to his family safely.
He got back to Pamela and his brothers and grew up.
But Jane didn't know the end of the story for 40 years.
That's it. But author James Purtill keeps you on the hook for it with irritating asides for a long time to find out. Sheesh. Tell the damn story.
posted by emjaybee at 9:01 PM on December 21, 2014 [20 favorites]
Man, I read the whole thing with the assumption that the mother hadn't seen her son in 40 years. But really it was just Jane who she hadn't seen, and her kid was back to her in a few days.
This was absolutely terrible writing, and (considering that he's basically reporting on a TV show, whose researchers presumably dug up all of the facts and facilitated the reunion) terrible journalism too.
There's an interesting story somewhere in there but I feel like I still haven't read it yet. Maybe someone who doesn't think he's the next Charles Dickens could write it up.
And the core teaser question seems to be "if you were in the aftermath of a terrible storm where babies are unlikely to survive, would you give your child to the temporary care of a friend of a friend who seemed trustworthy in the hope that she could follow your detailed instructions and deliver him to a relative?"
Yes. Yes I would.
posted by mmoncur at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2014 [18 favorites]
This was absolutely terrible writing, and (considering that he's basically reporting on a TV show, whose researchers presumably dug up all of the facts and facilitated the reunion) terrible journalism too.
There's an interesting story somewhere in there but I feel like I still haven't read it yet. Maybe someone who doesn't think he's the next Charles Dickens could write it up.
And the core teaser question seems to be "if you were in the aftermath of a terrible storm where babies are unlikely to survive, would you give your child to the temporary care of a friend of a friend who seemed trustworthy in the hope that she could follow your detailed instructions and deliver him to a relative?"
Yes. Yes I would.
posted by mmoncur at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2014 [18 favorites]
Man, the writing in that article is a disaster, I couldn't make heads or tails of who did what to whom.I initially thought she gave a stranger the baby and they just kept him for 40 years.
Was thinking "surely Darwin's not that remote".
posted by fullerine at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2014 [14 favorites]
In an emergency, would you hand your child over to a stranger
Silly journalist. What kind of fucking stupid question is that? People do that every single day.
Still, despite the dreadful setup and the mediocre writing, this is a lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:16 PM on December 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Silly journalist. What kind of fucking stupid question is that? People do that every single day.
Still, despite the dreadful setup and the mediocre writing, this is a lovely story. Thank you for sharing.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:16 PM on December 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
I also thought that the Pamela had handed her son over to Jane and then never saw him again until the TV crews arrived. It's a lovely story, but I wish a better writer had covered it.
posted by TrishaLynn at 9:20 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by TrishaLynn at 9:20 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I was seriously confused. I thought they were never reunited. It was hard to parse.
But the most amazing part to me is that Jane didn't accompany Michael to his relatives. A flight attendant took Michael on the last leg of the trip. I think in her shoes, I would have felt obligated to deliver him to his extended family, and it's harder for me to imagine giving the baby to the flight attendant than it is to imagine being a mother giving him to the stranger. In the second case, you are deciding for yourself that you can live with the fallout. In the first, you are deciding for someone else, and deciding you can face them afterwards to account for your choice. That to me seems like a more interesting question than sending the baby away from the disaster zone, but it's only a footnote in the article.
It's an interesting story; thanks for posting it.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 9:32 PM on December 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
But the most amazing part to me is that Jane didn't accompany Michael to his relatives. A flight attendant took Michael on the last leg of the trip. I think in her shoes, I would have felt obligated to deliver him to his extended family, and it's harder for me to imagine giving the baby to the flight attendant than it is to imagine being a mother giving him to the stranger. In the second case, you are deciding for yourself that you can live with the fallout. In the first, you are deciding for someone else, and deciding you can face them afterwards to account for your choice. That to me seems like a more interesting question than sending the baby away from the disaster zone, but it's only a footnote in the article.
It's an interesting story; thanks for posting it.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 9:32 PM on December 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
The mood is surreal, complicated.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by mrgrimm at 9:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
When the end of the world comes I want to be the guy on the motorbike: shooting dogs and drinking whiskey.
posted by clarknova at 9:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by clarknova at 9:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
Snarl Furillo - Launceston is another 550 km beyond the 3700+ Jane had already travelled from Darwin to Melbourne. In 1974, I don't think that air travel came cheap in Australia, and the trip over water isn't for the faint of heart (it takes 9 to 11 hours in a modern car carrier and can still be a rough passage.) I travelled alone as a child by air in the US and Canada in the mid-1970s, and the flight crew took good care of me - I have no reason to think it would be any different on '70s-era Qantas.
Jane knew Michael was being delivered into the hands of his family at the other end of the trip (there were still phones even in Darwin, and of course Victoria and Tasmania were untouched.) It isn't comparable to poor Pamela's desperate situation. And despite the dramatizing, Pamela entrusted her child to a school teacher vouched for by a friend.
posted by gingerest at 9:55 PM on December 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Jane knew Michael was being delivered into the hands of his family at the other end of the trip (there were still phones even in Darwin, and of course Victoria and Tasmania were untouched.) It isn't comparable to poor Pamela's desperate situation. And despite the dramatizing, Pamela entrusted her child to a school teacher vouched for by a friend.
posted by gingerest at 9:55 PM on December 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
The article crashed my browser twice.
Although after reading the article, I now wonder if perhaps Chrome was committing suicide ..
posted by dotgirl at 10:04 PM on December 21, 2014 [10 favorites]
Although after reading the article, I now wonder if perhaps Chrome was committing suicide ..
posted by dotgirl at 10:04 PM on December 21, 2014 [10 favorites]
But the most amazing part to me is that Jane didn't accompany Michael to his relatives.
Flights back then weren't cheap. I wouldn't presume that a schoolteacher could take a plane at the drop of a hat, particularly a schoolteacher who was probably homeless and unemployed.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:05 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Flights back then weren't cheap. I wouldn't presume that a schoolteacher could take a plane at the drop of a hat, particularly a schoolteacher who was probably homeless and unemployed.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:05 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
I initially thought she gave a stranger the baby and they just kept him for 40 years.
I finished the article and still thought that until I read here that wasn't the case. An interesting story like that deserves a better writer.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 10:08 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
I finished the article and still thought that until I read here that wasn't the case. An interesting story like that deserves a better writer.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 10:08 PM on December 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, difficult to follow, but a nice story once you figure it out.
It's hard to imagine handing a baby over like that (although not really to a stranger, as the headline claims), remembering that this was 1974. There was no Internet and Darwin had few flights, limited roads in and out and is a hell of a long way away from anywhere. That's without being flattened. When you add no power, almost no communication with anywhere else in the world and an apocalyptic environment with an uncertain future (the idea of just abandoning Darwin - a state capital - altogether was seriously considered), it's a huge leap of faith to hand a baby over and trust that you'll see it again.
But after what the people in that city had just gone through? Anywhere would have seemed like a better place for a baby to be. It's no wonder that so many residents just got the hell out however they could and never came back. If you ever get the chance to visit Darwin, make sure you go to the museum and art gallery - in the Cyclone Tracey permanent exhibit, there is a sound-and-light-proof room that plays a recording of the cyclone at it's peak. It is absolutely terrifying - the noises that you can half-hear over the shrieking of the wind (terrifying enough in itself, estimated at 300 km/h because all weather measuring equipment was destroyed) are like something from another world. Every time I read 'The Mist', it reminds me of that recording. After that, what's amazing is not that she handed her baby over, but that she stayed behind to rebuild a life for them in a place that just tried to kill them.
As for Jane handing the baby over rather than take him all the way - the initial evacuation flight would have been free, but the further travel horribly expensive in those days.
posted by dg at 10:19 PM on December 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's hard to imagine handing a baby over like that (although not really to a stranger, as the headline claims), remembering that this was 1974. There was no Internet and Darwin had few flights, limited roads in and out and is a hell of a long way away from anywhere. That's without being flattened. When you add no power, almost no communication with anywhere else in the world and an apocalyptic environment with an uncertain future (the idea of just abandoning Darwin - a state capital - altogether was seriously considered), it's a huge leap of faith to hand a baby over and trust that you'll see it again.
But after what the people in that city had just gone through? Anywhere would have seemed like a better place for a baby to be. It's no wonder that so many residents just got the hell out however they could and never came back. If you ever get the chance to visit Darwin, make sure you go to the museum and art gallery - in the Cyclone Tracey permanent exhibit, there is a sound-and-light-proof room that plays a recording of the cyclone at it's peak. It is absolutely terrifying - the noises that you can half-hear over the shrieking of the wind (terrifying enough in itself, estimated at 300 km/h because all weather measuring equipment was destroyed) are like something from another world. Every time I read 'The Mist', it reminds me of that recording. After that, what's amazing is not that she handed her baby over, but that she stayed behind to rebuild a life for them in a place that just tried to kill them.
As for Jane handing the baby over rather than take him all the way - the initial evacuation flight would have been free, but the further travel horribly expensive in those days.
posted by dg at 10:19 PM on December 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
When my baby stopped breathing on a hiking trail some distance from the trail head I started running carrying the baby, and shouting at my toddler to keep up, which he did at first but less and less as my adrenaline pushed me onwards at unaccustomed speed. I shouted at the first other human we passed, "Sir! My baby isn't breathing! Can you bring my toddler to the trailhead?" I did not stop for an answer.
In retrospect this is an insane thing to ask, but he did it, and then slipped away immediately before I could thank him. Or even really see him. He was an older guy with a white baseball cap. That's all I know.
Baby went in an ambulance to the ER and was (is) fine. Toddler was distracted by the park employees during the scary part, who let him pet a tarantula and is also fine. Except he wants a tarantula.
People are mostly awesome when you need them to be. Thanks white cap dude!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:20 PM on December 21, 2014 [120 favorites]
In retrospect this is an insane thing to ask, but he did it, and then slipped away immediately before I could thank him. Or even really see him. He was an older guy with a white baseball cap. That's all I know.
Baby went in an ambulance to the ER and was (is) fine. Toddler was distracted by the park employees during the scary part, who let him pet a tarantula and is also fine. Except he wants a tarantula.
People are mostly awesome when you need them to be. Thanks white cap dude!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:20 PM on December 21, 2014 [120 favorites]
Like the lady said, sometimes you do what you have to do.
posted by dg at 10:29 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 10:29 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Boy, I hope that author's career isn't dashed upon the shoals of MeFi's rocky reception. Brutal!
posted by five fresh fish at 11:03 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by five fresh fish at 11:03 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
But the most amazing part to me is that Jane didn't accompany Michael to his relatives.
I also didn't make it to the end of the article (although I did get that Jane was the stranger, not the mom, and that she didn't keep him). What I couldn't parse out is why on earth the mother couldn't go with her baby. Was that ever explained?
posted by anastasiav at 11:07 PM on December 21, 2014
I also didn't make it to the end of the article (although I did get that Jane was the stranger, not the mom, and that she didn't keep him). What I couldn't parse out is why on earth the mother couldn't go with her baby. Was that ever explained?
posted by anastasiav at 11:07 PM on December 21, 2014
Anastasiav:
The town was not under military rule, not technically, but an army general had taken command and ruled that anyone who left would not be able to return, not unless they had permission. To get permission you needed to prove you had a house, somewhere to stay, that you could look after yourself.
The family lost everything. The parents stayed for fear the family wouldn't be allowed back if they evacuated. They stayed, and when things settled they picked up the 3 kids from the grandparents & rebuilt.
posted by goshling at 11:52 PM on December 21, 2014
The town was not under military rule, not technically, but an army general had taken command and ruled that anyone who left would not be able to return, not unless they had permission. To get permission you needed to prove you had a house, somewhere to stay, that you could look after yourself.
The family lost everything. The parents stayed for fear the family wouldn't be allowed back if they evacuated. They stayed, and when things settled they picked up the 3 kids from the grandparents & rebuilt.
posted by goshling at 11:52 PM on December 21, 2014
My perspective is colored by not having children, I suppose, but I felt kind of bad for Michael that he seemed so unable to imagine that what his mother did might have been a reasonable choice under the circumstances.
posted by Lexica at 11:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 11:54 PM on December 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
My anecdotal reading indicates that when it comes to survival, parents can become quite dispassionate about maximising the survival chances of their children, in extremis even selecting which ones will survive. See also: Sophie's Choice. Children are little survival machines, though: they will demand everything from their parents and consider it a betrayal (which it is) if they perceive that a sibling is being favored.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:10 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:10 AM on December 22, 2014
Yes, of course I would. Wouldn't everyone? (To answer: no, of course not, everyone is different...)
Besides, statistically, my children are probably safer with a woman schoolteacher I don't know than with me, a man in their family. Sure, I would claim that isn't the case for this man, but on a population level...
posted by alasdair at 2:04 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Besides, statistically, my children are probably safer with a woman schoolteacher I don't know than with me, a man in their family. Sure, I would claim that isn't the case for this man, but on a population level...
posted by alasdair at 2:04 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Would I hand a kid over to a school teacher, who's been vouched for by a friend, to be taken to their grandparents...
Uh, yes?
Given that there appears to be no actual story to the story, I guess I'm more worried that this was hyped up at all, as if the Mother did anything wrong, or describing it as abandonment.
Of course you'd send the kid to their grandparents if you could, in an emergency I'd hand them off to the Air Hostess if I had to (Flight Attendant, now that we're not in the 70s).
Even outside of an emergency, where I am, planes will take unaccompanied minors from age 5, and buses from age 7.
A female school teacher who is known to people I trust sounds like a pretty good delivery person to take a toddler on a long distance trip, if it was necessary.
posted by Elysum at 2:12 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Uh, yes?
Given that there appears to be no actual story to the story, I guess I'm more worried that this was hyped up at all, as if the Mother did anything wrong, or describing it as abandonment.
Of course you'd send the kid to their grandparents if you could, in an emergency I'd hand them off to the Air Hostess if I had to (Flight Attendant, now that we're not in the 70s).
Even outside of an emergency, where I am, planes will take unaccompanied minors from age 5, and buses from age 7.
A female school teacher who is known to people I trust sounds like a pretty good delivery person to take a toddler on a long distance trip, if it was necessary.
posted by Elysum at 2:12 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Put me in the camp that didn't get the story until I read the MeFi comments.....(going back and reading it again, the author DOES make it clear, but does it so poorly that it was easy to get confused). And, yeah, once I understood who was who, I agree, it really isn't even much of a news story.. It's like going back to visit the kid you baby-sat for 40 years ago...... We make these kind of connections pretty much daily thanks to the social media site we all love to hate...
posted by HuronBob at 2:57 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by HuronBob at 2:57 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not proud of it, but you lost me at "Chapter One".
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:21 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:21 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
Also so glad I can get this story from the comments.
I forget the word for this construction "There had been a big storm and the mother had lost her house"--passive voice? Past perfect? Maybe rather:
Mary Smith, along with nearly everyone else in town, lost her house in the storm. On the unpopulated northern edge of SomeCountry*, phones and radio communications had failed. The airport's charter planes rested upside down, flipped over in the strong winds. As days passed, food and medical care grew scarce in this remote and dangerous area. Mary trusted a stranger to bring her child to safety.
I would like to write and rewrite that all day long for fun until it was okay. There is something wrong with me.
Also: In the swollen pink light comes across sexier than intended, particularly since it's describing a child's bedroom for pete's sake.
*Okay fine I'll go read it. **
**or skim it or something
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
I forget the word for this construction "There had been a big storm and the mother had lost her house"--passive voice? Past perfect? Maybe rather:
Mary Smith, along with nearly everyone else in town, lost her house in the storm. On the unpopulated northern edge of SomeCountry*, phones and radio communications had failed. The airport's charter planes rested upside down, flipped over in the strong winds. As days passed, food and medical care grew scarce in this remote and dangerous area. Mary trusted a stranger to bring her child to safety.
I would like to write and rewrite that all day long for fun until it was okay. There is something wrong with me.
Also: In the swollen pink light comes across sexier than intended, particularly since it's describing a child's bedroom for pete's sake.
*Okay fine I'll go read it. **
**or skim it or something
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Imagine the mother gave her child to the stranger to be evacuated; not quite a stranger, a friend of a friend.
Wait, seriously? It's in the title of the story.
It's "In the Arms of a Stranger".
Man, at that point just go with "In the Arms of Not Quite a Stranger, More Like Someone You Sort of Know". Go for broke.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:50 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
Wait, seriously? It's in the title of the story.
It's "In the Arms of a Stranger".
Man, at that point just go with "In the Arms of Not Quite a Stranger, More Like Someone You Sort of Know". Go for broke.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:50 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
This is really terribly written, yes.
It's quite disappointing that this is what we're seeing here on MeFi for the 40th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy. This is a small item out of many that I believe have been produced, documenting what happened 40 years ago this Christmas. I was 3 when this happened, we had family there, they all survived but moved back to Melbourne as far as I know. I see them now at funerals, I know they lived in Darwin when Tracy hit, but they don't discuss it with me.
90% of homes were flattened. It was 1974. Communications were rudimentary. I assume the mother didn't foresee the delays in getting the chid to safety - Jane & Michael were stuck at the airport for hours. As mentioned above, plane travel was expensive, she'd probably just lost her home, her job, all her belongings & was trying to get to family, and trying to get the kid to his family. Evac flights out would be free - it looks like Jane & Michael got to Melbourne then Michael went on to Launceston. It's unlikely she'd have been given a free round trip to drop him off when the airline could do it.
Again, she was a friend of friend, not a total stranger. The author of this article needs a good talking to, as it does appear the mother & son were separated for 40 years, which is just ludicrous.
Would I hand over my kid in that situation: I think so. Yep. This is a very core of why people give up their kids - they have a struggle & they want better for the child.
posted by goshling at 5:21 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
It's quite disappointing that this is what we're seeing here on MeFi for the 40th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy. This is a small item out of many that I believe have been produced, documenting what happened 40 years ago this Christmas. I was 3 when this happened, we had family there, they all survived but moved back to Melbourne as far as I know. I see them now at funerals, I know they lived in Darwin when Tracy hit, but they don't discuss it with me.
90% of homes were flattened. It was 1974. Communications were rudimentary. I assume the mother didn't foresee the delays in getting the chid to safety - Jane & Michael were stuck at the airport for hours. As mentioned above, plane travel was expensive, she'd probably just lost her home, her job, all her belongings & was trying to get to family, and trying to get the kid to his family. Evac flights out would be free - it looks like Jane & Michael got to Melbourne then Michael went on to Launceston. It's unlikely she'd have been given a free round trip to drop him off when the airline could do it.
Again, she was a friend of friend, not a total stranger. The author of this article needs a good talking to, as it does appear the mother & son were separated for 40 years, which is just ludicrous.
Would I hand over my kid in that situation: I think so. Yep. This is a very core of why people give up their kids - they have a struggle & they want better for the child.
posted by goshling at 5:21 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
It's the 40th anniversary & it looks like this piece is a small part of a wrap up/transcript of one of many documentaries talking to the survivors.
I read it & found it convoluted & vague, maybe I twigged earlier than most, I certainly realised it was about a major storm - Tracy? Qld floods? Does it matter?
I was 3 when Tracy happened, Tracy is something set in the Australian psyche. If the piece was written as part of the ABC 40th tribute, it requires less background when talking to an Aus audience than to an international audience.
It's still badly paced. A great story written badly.
I'm sad that Michel doesn't appreciate his luck to get out of there - he already had cut feet from waking on broken glass - there was no water, electric, etc, he'd have been fucked, basically.
This was pretty much Hurricane Katrina.
Anyway, here's a song for you all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y66Db-AzsdE
posted by goshling at 5:39 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
I read it & found it convoluted & vague, maybe I twigged earlier than most, I certainly realised it was about a major storm - Tracy? Qld floods? Does it matter?
I was 3 when Tracy happened, Tracy is something set in the Australian psyche. If the piece was written as part of the ABC 40th tribute, it requires less background when talking to an Aus audience than to an international audience.
It's still badly paced. A great story written badly.
I'm sad that Michel doesn't appreciate his luck to get out of there - he already had cut feet from waking on broken glass - there was no water, electric, etc, he'd have been fucked, basically.
This was pretty much Hurricane Katrina.
Anyway, here's a song for you all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y66Db-AzsdE
posted by goshling at 5:39 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sure, I saw that happen once. Car A hits Car B. Mother gets out of Car B, carrying baby. Car C stops, strangers get out. Someone gets out of Car A and runs to ditch something in the ditch (hah!). Mother hands baby to person from Car C, and starts punching the person from Car A. Eleventybillion hours later the cops show up.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:07 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:07 AM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
I tried reading this last night and gave up, assuming my eyes were tired since I was having difficulty keeping track of the train of thought in this article. I should have checked the comments here, because it seems like I wasn't the only one having problems. :)
posted by surazal at 6:33 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by surazal at 6:33 AM on December 22, 2014
I'd be happy to see this post nixed & someone post a better Tracy thread including this & the other stories
posted by goshling at 6:40 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by goshling at 6:40 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
Looks like it's a party of one here but I liked the writing style. It's ok to have to wait 500 words to get to the nut of the story.
posted by kaymac at 7:16 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by kaymac at 7:16 AM on December 22, 2014
> It's ok to have to wait 500 words to get to the nut of the story
Those 500 words need to indicate that there's something worth waiting for, though. I read "There had been a big storm and the mother had lost her house," and I feel like I'm reading something a 2nd grader's brought home from school.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:31 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Those 500 words need to indicate that there's something worth waiting for, though. I read "There had been a big storm and the mother had lost her house," and I feel like I'm reading something a 2nd grader's brought home from school.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:31 AM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
That lede wasn't just buried, it was tied up and left in a little shed to perish.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:35 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 9:35 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
goshling, I would be interested to read a post if you made it.
And wow- another 500km to get the baby to his relatives? Wow. It's still an interesting question for me to consider, I guess. I think I would have been interested in a story that traces Michael's whole journey, set up with Jane as just one leg. Like, start with his mom, how they find Jane, then Jane at the airport (she was apparently waiting on the flight for a full 24 hours. Pamela says she started calling about 4 hours after she heard what she thought was Jane's flight take off. So she was calling desperately to find out where Michael was while he was still in Darwin.), then the flight attendant, then his relatives, then back to Darwin. I feel like there is a great story in here that just isn't being told at all.
Apparently I am interested in many things today.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 9:44 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
And wow- another 500km to get the baby to his relatives? Wow. It's still an interesting question for me to consider, I guess. I think I would have been interested in a story that traces Michael's whole journey, set up with Jane as just one leg. Like, start with his mom, how they find Jane, then Jane at the airport (she was apparently waiting on the flight for a full 24 hours. Pamela says she started calling about 4 hours after she heard what she thought was Jane's flight take off. So she was calling desperately to find out where Michael was while he was still in Darwin.), then the flight attendant, then his relatives, then back to Darwin. I feel like there is a great story in here that just isn't being told at all.
Apparently I am interested in many things today.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 9:44 AM on December 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
My goodness, Eyebrows, that's about five times more harrowing than the FPP! If I'd had to go through it, part of me would be running desperately down that trail for the rest of my life!
I've heard that kids with severe asthma typically display great determination later in life because they had to develop it simply to breathe; I gather asthma's not an issue for your son, but I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is the source of his enormous force of will.
posted by jamjam at 10:31 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I've heard that kids with severe asthma typically display great determination later in life because they had to develop it simply to breathe; I gather asthma's not an issue for your son, but I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is the source of his enormous force of will.
posted by jamjam at 10:31 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Okay, so it didn't take 40 years for the mother to find her lost son. I was like, what the fuck, are they just now getting the power back on?
This is like... anti-journalism. I now know less than I knew before I read this.
posted by Naberius at 10:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
This is like... anti-journalism. I now know less than I knew before I read this.
posted by Naberius at 10:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
One time, a random lady literally hurled her baby at me as a desperate plea to get onto a crowded train at rush hour. It was just a standard, over-packed train with another train 1-6 minutes behind it, but she fought to get on that thing like it was the last plane out of Saigon. I did wonder what would have happened had the doors closed before she smashed her way in. Some people keep their priorities in a different order than I do.
posted by fermezporte at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2014
posted by fermezporte at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2014
Metafilter: I now know less than I knew before I read this.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:56 PM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 2:56 PM on December 22, 2014 [4 favorites]
I thought I would like the writing style, then I realised I didn't know what was going on. I got irritated, and then more irritated once I realised that basic facts had been omitted. The setup implied that the meeting was A Huge Deal, which is why I was among the people who thought that it was reuniting a mother and her child. No, it was reuniting a randomish stranger and the kid she'd looked after for a day, forty years ago. And there's no indication that either party was hard to find: could it be that they hadn't met for forty years because they weren't especially interested in doing so? I mean, if someone said "Hey Joe, want to meet your old babysitter?" I might agree, but I wouldn't change my schedule to accommodate it.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:08 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:08 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
1) I am not up to date on Australian history and was confused where this took place until I saw the map of Australia. Then I looked again because the writing didn't make any since and my rudimentary geology skills said yup that is Australia.
2) it wasn't until I came here that I understood the person meeting Michael was actually Jane and not the mother.
3)It made more since with the geography explained that didn't happen until right before the very end.
4) the stories here seem much more anxiety provoking due to them being clearly stated and in some sort of linear order.
5) I don't think being Australian and knowing about Tracey would have made this article any better.
Tldr; should have just read the comments.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:15 PM on December 22, 2014
2) it wasn't until I came here that I understood the person meeting Michael was actually Jane and not the mother.
3)It made more since with the geography explained that didn't happen until right before the very end.
4) the stories here seem much more anxiety provoking due to them being clearly stated and in some sort of linear order.
5) I don't think being Australian and knowing about Tracey would have made this article any better.
Tldr; should have just read the comments.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:15 PM on December 22, 2014
jamjam: "If I'd had to go through it, part of me would be running desperately down that trail for the rest of my life!"
It was basically my sole nightmare for the next 12 months. And when it was happening, it felt like one of those nightmares where you're running in slo-mo to try to get help. The hilarious kicker was, that evening, after we'd been released from the ER and all, my phone suddenly announced, "You have set a PERSONAL RECORD for a HALF MILE" because I had run so fast in my fear (and I'd had an exercise tracker on just to track how far I walked!).
Baby McGee was infuriated that I wouldn't let him walk down the trail branch he wanted and so held his breath until he fainted, which was a thing he'd done many times before. Unlike all the prior times, he didn't start breathing again as soon as he passed out (which is normally what happens when the rage is erased by unconsciousness and the autonomic nervous system can take over again). Apparently this is a thing that can sometimes happen. I attempted rescue breathing but it didn't work. I called 911 on my cell phone (thank God for cell phones!) while running towards the trailhead and kept 911 on speaker until I got to the trailhead. The 911 operator suggested I stop and wait for rescue services when she heard how heavily I was breathing from running but OBVIOUSLY THAT WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Baby McGee's breathing probably restarted either naturally or from being jostled while I ran; he was still blue-ish with uncertain breathing when we arrived at the trailhead but the park staff started first aid and he was breathing fairly normally when the EMTs arrived 60 seconds later. It took a while to rouse him to consciousness. (If you would ever like to see ALL THE PEOPLE in any given room start moving super-fast, shout, MY BABY ISN'T BREATHING! People move REALLY FAST.)
Among the funny things -- I am friends with a lot of the reporters in town and a bunch of reporters told me they'd been listening to the police/emergency dispatch radio and heard there was a baby not breathing at $LocalPark and recalled I'd posted to Facebook that I was going to $LocalPark that day and they were all like, "Huh, I wonder if that's Eyebrows and her baby ... naw, I'm sure she's fine." The 911 operator turned out to be the sister of a good friend of mine who was SUPER RELIEVED when my friend forwarded my facebook statuses to her (because 911 operators don't always find out what happened after!), and one of the EMTs was the sister of another friend. Smallest town in the world!
Anyway I enrolled in the very next child/infant CPR class the Red Cross offered in my town, and got up to date on my First Aid, CPR, and AED certifications for adults, children, and infants, which really helped me feel a lot more in control after such a scary situation, and you should definitely get your CPR certifications up to date! I also went to all the city council and park board meetings that involved EMT and park staff funding, to offer my strong recommendation that funding levels remain high and staff continue to receive comprehensive First Aid training. I felt such overwhelming gratitude for the park staff who started first aid and got him breathing again; I wanted to be able to be the person who did that if I ever saw anyone else's kid stop breathing. I also carry a CPR mask and a pair of gloves in my purse and glovebox now. GET YOUR CPR CERTIFICATION! BE UP TO DATE!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:51 PM on December 22, 2014 [9 favorites]
It was basically my sole nightmare for the next 12 months. And when it was happening, it felt like one of those nightmares where you're running in slo-mo to try to get help. The hilarious kicker was, that evening, after we'd been released from the ER and all, my phone suddenly announced, "You have set a PERSONAL RECORD for a HALF MILE" because I had run so fast in my fear (and I'd had an exercise tracker on just to track how far I walked!).
Baby McGee was infuriated that I wouldn't let him walk down the trail branch he wanted and so held his breath until he fainted, which was a thing he'd done many times before. Unlike all the prior times, he didn't start breathing again as soon as he passed out (which is normally what happens when the rage is erased by unconsciousness and the autonomic nervous system can take over again). Apparently this is a thing that can sometimes happen. I attempted rescue breathing but it didn't work. I called 911 on my cell phone (thank God for cell phones!) while running towards the trailhead and kept 911 on speaker until I got to the trailhead. The 911 operator suggested I stop and wait for rescue services when she heard how heavily I was breathing from running but OBVIOUSLY THAT WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Baby McGee's breathing probably restarted either naturally or from being jostled while I ran; he was still blue-ish with uncertain breathing when we arrived at the trailhead but the park staff started first aid and he was breathing fairly normally when the EMTs arrived 60 seconds later. It took a while to rouse him to consciousness. (If you would ever like to see ALL THE PEOPLE in any given room start moving super-fast, shout, MY BABY ISN'T BREATHING! People move REALLY FAST.)
Among the funny things -- I am friends with a lot of the reporters in town and a bunch of reporters told me they'd been listening to the police/emergency dispatch radio and heard there was a baby not breathing at $LocalPark and recalled I'd posted to Facebook that I was going to $LocalPark that day and they were all like, "Huh, I wonder if that's Eyebrows and her baby ... naw, I'm sure she's fine." The 911 operator turned out to be the sister of a good friend of mine who was SUPER RELIEVED when my friend forwarded my facebook statuses to her (because 911 operators don't always find out what happened after!), and one of the EMTs was the sister of another friend. Smallest town in the world!
Anyway I enrolled in the very next child/infant CPR class the Red Cross offered in my town, and got up to date on my First Aid, CPR, and AED certifications for adults, children, and infants, which really helped me feel a lot more in control after such a scary situation, and you should definitely get your CPR certifications up to date! I also went to all the city council and park board meetings that involved EMT and park staff funding, to offer my strong recommendation that funding levels remain high and staff continue to receive comprehensive First Aid training. I felt such overwhelming gratitude for the park staff who started first aid and got him breathing again; I wanted to be able to be the person who did that if I ever saw anyone else's kid stop breathing. I also carry a CPR mask and a pair of gloves in my purse and glovebox now. GET YOUR CPR CERTIFICATION! BE UP TO DATE!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:51 PM on December 22, 2014 [9 favorites]
GET YOUR CPR CERTIFICATION!
Well. Jeez. You've convinced me.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:05 AM on December 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well. Jeez. You've convinced me.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:05 AM on December 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
In case any other like-minded ignoramus like me is interested, here are a couple of links on Cyclone Tracey:
"Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974.
First person accounts
First person accounts from Red Cross workers (auto-play heads up)
According to the Wikipedia entry it killed 66 people and leveled 80% of the houses, Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974, forty years ago this week. It looks enormous but is described in the last link below by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as being 'small but intense'.
The territory of Darwin is at the very tip top of Australia and has a "tropical savannah climate". So they get cyclones and monsoons.
It was the most significant cyclone in Australia's history.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:30 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
"Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974.
First person accounts
First person accounts from Red Cross workers (auto-play heads up)
According to the Wikipedia entry it killed 66 people and leveled 80% of the houses, Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974, forty years ago this week. It looks enormous but is described in the last link below by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology as being 'small but intense'.
The territory of Darwin is at the very tip top of Australia and has a "tropical savannah climate". So they get cyclones and monsoons.
It was the most significant cyclone in Australia's history.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:30 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by empath at 8:49 PM on December 21, 2014 [44 favorites]