Pearl Harbor

I'm reading a book called The Charmed Circle. It's by an Australian author—Catherine Gaskin.

It's about love and life during World War II.

The book made me have an aha! moment; one I should have had a long time ago.

The thing is.....

When Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Hawaii wasn't an American state yet.

It was an American territory, though. Lord Wiki just told me that.

I'm pretty sure I knew Hawaii became a state in the 1950's. But I never put that fact in the context of Pearl Harbor.  

It's not a huge deal.  But I thought it was slightly interesting.

In the book, one of the characters is sort of happy about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's not that he's an awful person.  It's just that he wants America to help them (the British) in the war. So it's kind of like he's...relieved maybe?  He believes now America will join the fight.  

That kind of thinking reminded me of something else.  I had to think hard to figure out what. Then I remembered.

Back when I was big into the fight against Cystic Fibrosis, there was a sort of dark wish for some celebrity's child to be diagnosed with the disease. I'm not speaking for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation...or anybody but myself. I'm guessing, though, that maybe other people felt the same way.

Of course I don't wish a horrible disease on any child. But the sad fact is, children are going to get the disease. So why not a celebrity's child? Or just anyone that has the power to bring more attention to the cause.

I think it does probably help a charity to have a big celebrity spokesperson.

Maybe?

I don't have statistics to back me up on this.

I think about Michael J. Fox, though.

Did the organizations, fighting the disease, get more funds after he made his diagnosis public? I'm guessing maybe there was an increase?

And with those funds, have better treatments been developed?

In other words, did Michael J. Fox help other people by getting sick himself?

How did Christopher Reeve impact spinal chord research?

I'm definitely not saying that celebrities deserve adversity more than the average person.

I guess it's just a fact of life, really. Bad things suck. But sometimes good comes out of them.

It's the way of the universe.

Sometimes we profit from other people's misery, even if we're not cold-hearted, evil, and insensitive.