Leave it to Generation Z and the beautiful bummer that is the internet to make a comedic sideshow out of an impending devastation. We've done it before, and now we've done it again—this time in the form of Hurricane Florence. But Florence was a natural disaster that robbed 37 lives and counting, flooded areas with 36 inches of rain, and disrupted the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, you say?
Indeed, this is what the headlines read in the days following Florence's landfall. However, in the days leading up to the hurricane's arrival, an all too common perspective on the most popular conversation topic of the week was something strikingly different and immensely disturbing. Let's take a look at what I mean through the eyes of our dearly beloved, Twitter, shall we?
1. Hurricane Florence compared to a common simplistic activity amongst youths: the Circle Game.
https://twitter.com/zacktaylor_92/status/1040324386534776833
Good one.
2. A college student making deals with a demonic storm to cancel her classes.
https://twitter.com/mbschillz/status/1040228084627189761
Very funny.
3. Finally, a whole Twitter account (and this is one of many, trust me) made to personify Hurricane Florence and give…insight…to the storm's mind.
https://twitter.com/HurricaneFlor11/status/1039810666725556224
Absolutely hilarious.
And just like that, Hurricane Florence goes down in history as the designated meme of September 2018. The joke was born and it died quickly as most jokes do and as did the storm, as well—it was born and it died before we even knew it. The devastation Florence left behind, however, is nowhere near gone, though maybe already forgotten by most.
Here we are, then, at the crux of our humanity. Is this social media storm that Generation Z has been born into killing our empathy? Are we, as an up and coming culture, aimed more towards landing the punchline of an easy joke and receiving instant gratification than being thoughtful, caring, and simply not terrible human beings?
Look at it like this: Making jokes about 9/11 and the Holocaust are taboo; people who dare to be that bold are generally considered to be insensitive jerks. Why is this? Simply put: because people tragically lost their lives. So why was this same level of respect not awarded to Hurricane Florence before she even hit land?
Maybe this answer is something along the lines of "How were we supposed to know what consequences Florence would bring with her?" You'll notice the lack of Florence jokes in circulation online over the past week or so. This is because we now have the power of hindsight to grant us an understanding that the effects of the Hurricane were truly horrific. But did we not also have the luxury of foresight? Weathermen warned us—we know from experience how this whole hurricane thing goes.
So what does this mean for us? We can't undo the damage of the storm or of the ill-favored tweets we sent out. What we can do is alter the way in which we view these types of things in the future. Remember that just because something is an insignificant occurrence to us, the fact that it was a curveball turned wrecking ball for others is not negated. We must think before we speak. Cultural changes start small scale and then make a world of difference later on down the road. So what will we let define us? Shallow jokes or deep sympathies?
