Miscues, Miscommunication and the Sago Mine

My heart goes out to the families of the deceased miners. There is simply no excuse for the type of incompetence that forced them onto such a violent emotional roller coaster. The blame game will now start and rightfully so. There appears to be plenty to go around. I don't want to second guess any of the rescue protocols. I know the type of men who do such work and they are not the type to bow to corporate pressure at the expense of capability. But there are realities of budget and time and I wonder how they played out here. Mining is a dangerous job but it is also can be quite a lucrative career. So much so that the miners themselves have had no issue with using violence themselves when dealing with scabs. A friend of mine was hired for mine security during the coal mine strikes in the 80's. Apparently the miners had no compunction of chucking sticks of dynamite to disrupt operations. I say this only to illustrate that mining jobs are not last ditch choices but highly sought after career choices.

That being said, this could have been handled with greater sensitivity. It's just wrong to play with people's feelings in such a flippant manner. There are realities of life and there is simple carelessness that makes it much rougher than it has to be. This is what sloppiness leads to. People give me a hard time because I can be a hard ass. I just know where carelessness ends up.