Two Year Old Girl from China, Yue Yue

Outrage. Sorrow. Appall. Sickening. There are so many words to describe the reactions to China's hit-and-run girl, the two-year-old named Yue Yue who was left for dead after being run over twice by separate drivers and then ignored in the middle of the road by 18 passersby.

Yue Yue attended to by hospital staff

I feel all of those emotions, but to be honest, I'm also very confused. I don't know what to make of it. I can't wrap my brain around why it happened--why so many people saw her injured body and just walked away. I can't understand it no matter how hard I've tried, and it's really, very bothersome.

You see, I'm the type of person who needs some sort of logical, scientific explanation...such as "The human body, when confronted with a situation such as this, will naturally do this or that as proven by several studies done by so-and-so." But you know what? None of that would even come close to explaining the apparent apathy of the passersby or the drivers of those two vehicles. Because for once, a scientific explanation just doesn't work (I never thought I'd say that). Simply put, it is just an excuse.

I have been reading news stories to see what the passersby and the drivers have to say for themselves, and all of their explanations are again just excuses. Bullshit. And then I've been reading about the world's reaction and China's reaction, and again, more excuses and bullshit.

The little girl died yesterday (Friday, Oct. 21). Some people are saying she died to teach the world a lesson. But about what? That we're cruel and that the world we live in is evil? That we need to change? All of this we knew already. Furthermore, so many of the reactions to this story are negative ones that I'm not sure what kind of lessons we are learning. It's instead bringing out racism, hate, fear, anger...all the negative things. We are so quick to make sweeping conclusions. I don't think it's any one person's fault. 20 or more people could easily be blamed. An entire nation could be blamed. But mostly it's humanity that's failed. How sad.

I say that humanity has failed because regardless of nationality, race, religion, government, income level, etc., there is still right and wrong. There is a universal moral code, isn't there? At least I once believed in that but perhaps it's now been superseded by our environment. The old argument of nature vs. nurture. We have a natural disposition of responding to certain moral situations, don't we? Isn't that what makes us "human"? What has happened to our moral code?

There are so many explanations as to why nobody stopped to help Yue Yue. This article, We Are All Yue Yue, tries to explain. But in the end, all of these explanations do not suffice to me. Not one bit. And that is so perplexing.

Perhaps, however, we're asking the wrong question. Perhaps we should be asking: Will Yue Yue's death make a difference? I can't say for sure, but I am left with the feeling that I must go hug my kids close to me. Because I now have a reaffirmed love and gratitude for my children. And yes, also because I'm damn afraid of letting my kids go out into a world that evil. But they say that kids are the future, and clearly this problem with morality will not be solved quickly or easily, even if laws are enacted on behalf of Yue Yue. So I will start there, by holding my kids close, by loving them, teaching them the right things, and hoping that they will prove to be a better lot of adult humans than we currently are. One small step and a lot of hope for a changed future.