Lantern's Spotlight - Kristina Miller and the Sharm el-Sheik Bombings

Greetings, cyberspace. Long time no see.

Instead of excuses, I'm going to get write to the point. I am probably the world's worst friend. Like my ignored blog, plenty of email and phone calls from friends and family get stacked up, unanswered. It's not that I don't care, it's just that I figure I'm SO busy I can't take the time. Having the wife out of town has given me a little extra free time to slack off, so I've been trying to balance productive use of time with couch-potato sloth. Sloth has been winning, but things have been getting done at a steady pace - including catching up with old friends.

It Can Happen To You Part 1 - Terrorism

Janet and I used to work for the same company years ago. Then she became a partner and moved to Las Vegas to run a sales office, and finally to open one in Orange County, CA right before the company fell apart. Funny, when the "fit hit the shan" on my career there, it was Janet who had to fire me.

Don't worry, Janet. It's all water under the bridge. Killing the messenger is stupid, anyway.

Not long after she took over the Vegas office, Janet hired a girl named Kristina as her secretary. Now at this company, secretaries were known to travel through revolving doors at most locations, but Kristina seemed to still be there month after month. That was probably the first thing I noticed.

Next was her personality. In my roles with our firm, I had to deal with Janet's counterparts in the satellite offices quite a bit, which meant getting to know the different personalities who answered the phones. Kristina liked to laugh, had a clever sense of humor, and shared many of my tastes in music and movies. These I noticed over time during our two and three minute conversations.

The pinnacle of my time at this firm was our company-wide trip to Las Vegas right before the corporate explosion. It should be noted I was saving myself at the time for a cheating Canadian woman, so I was more than disheartened when that year's Northern snowstorm grounded her flight. Hell, if it wasn't for the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton I probably would've wormed my way out of the whole hoo-hah! I didn't really give much of a damn for the famous Vegas strip, and I feel gambling is a waste of money, so there wasn't much else for me to do besides drink with a Ferengi.

It was at the Vegas company conference that Kristina and I met for the first time. I remember musing about how attractive she was - a model like quality, with big eyes and an expressive smile that lit up.

Kristina and I turned out to be kindred spirits. We didn't really fit in with the sycophants or corporate cheerleaders, so we spent what time we could hanging in back and making fun of everyone during the conferences.

Our friendly relationship remained strong up through the time I was targeted for a "Reduction In Force", and even afterwards she would call me to and from college classes. Smart, dedicated, focused, and attractive. Selecting my company just proved that she had wonderful taste in men, so I'm certain I'd have approved of the boyfriend she talked about.

Over time, I let Kristina's calls and emails get stacked up, unanswered, along with Janet's. It's not that I didn't care, I just figured I was SO busy I didn't take the time. That's why I stopped now to write this when I got Janet's most recent email.

It was dated July 26th - yes I let it sit for a while - and in a quick few lines explained how Kristina was the only American killed during the terrorist bombings in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Since my life is mostly a cycle of work-home-sleep, this factoid failed to make it through my skull. Janet's letter was kind enough to assume I had already seen the news, but even if I had I wouldn't have immediately thought of MY friend Kristina Miller.

I watch Headline News every morning as I get ready for work, NPR's Morning Edition on the drive in, and the networks' All Things Considered. I like to think of myself as a fairly educated person, and I pay attention every time one of the commentators talks about how many of our armed forces died in overnight fighting, or from some sniper attack. I remember thinking back to my high school trip to London, and knowning that I traveled some of the area that was bombed on July 7th. Still, I never once imagined that an act of terrorism would take the life of someone I actually knew.

This entry was written not to inflame paranoia, nor to lash out over how our civil rights are being curtailed in the name of freedom. Clearly, something needs to be done to combat terror threats worldwide, and I think some concerns that the ACLU and other groups have brought up are valid. Decisions like those are left for people with louder voices than mine.

No, this is to thank Janet for not giving up on me as a friend.

This is to resolve to be a better friend in turn. Those who reach out deserve something to grab hold of, or the nothing you give them will be yours instead.

And this is for Kristina Miller.

Godspeed, Tina-Meena. Your untimely passing as an innocent victim of conflict is not in vain; as the only American casualty, you have brought addition attention to a regrettable event. Attention to any situation is always the first step to changing it.