So, this poll (apparently the poll has since been deleted, but basically it was asking what did fans care about more: EXO, the Ferry or Nothing) was on the AFF front page today and I just felt the need to vent about something that has been pissing me off for days.

Lots of people have been writing blogs talking about how we should all pray for South Korea, but the majority of their blog post is spent EXO bashing or talking about how comebacks shouldn’t matter and people need to quit worrying about MV’s and dramas. In fact, more focus is put on the music and bashing fandoms for being impatient than on the really issue at hand, in effect using the ferry as an excuse to prove how they are better fans than those other CONVENIENTLY ANONYMOUS selfish fans.

People, it is time to focus on people rather that stirring!

As of today, the death toll in the Sewol Ferry disaster has risen to 64 and 240 people are still missing. At this point, the remaining passengers on the ship have been UNDERWATER FOR A WEEK. Without food, water, bathroom facilities and unfortunately, some without air whose bodies are now being pulled from the wreckage.

This is an ongoing tragedy and in order to put this in terms you may understand, consider these facts:

1. Back in the mid-20^th century, South Korea, in an effort to enact population control, started policies to curb births, encouraging couples to limit their families to two children and it was a great success. In fact, South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates on Earth and with a culture that encourages couples to wait until their late 20’s to early 30’s to have children, many mothers are beyond child-bearing age by the time their children enter high school.

When you see a mother crying for her missing child, it is not just the loss of A CHILD, but perhaps a couple’s ONLY child. And with the advanced age of South Korean mothers, they will most likely never have another child naturally. They have basically lost their future hope, their comfort in old age, and their purpose in life. And they are forced to stand on the side lines and watch their children die and there is nothing they can do, no matter how desperately they want to help.

2. In a culture as homogenous as South Korean, there is a strong sense of national identity so things like honor, family, and national pride are very important to all citizens.

The fact that the crew left the boat ABANDONING the passengers on board is not only a dastardly crime by any standards, but a breach of honor, a principle the people of Korea hold precious.

3. Students in South Korea spend more time in school than other students in almost any nation in the world and usually, in the same class with the same classmates all day, all year and even sometimes year after year. Homeroom teachers often spend more time with students than their own families.

The school that most of the students attended is now reopening so that students can grieve together because in an effort to provide normalcy, they want to return these kids back to their regular schedules. But how regular can your school day be when 300 of your classmates won’t return with you? Their sense of unity is so strong that the Vice Principal of the school hung himself after the accident because his blamed himself for BOOKING the trip and not remaining on board with his students. In death he hoped to teach his student in the afterlife.

There are so many other tales of tragedy and reasons to be angry so please FOCUS ON THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE, and quit trying to turn this into a stupid fan issue.

Okay, I am done. But damn it, I;m so angry. AHAHAHAH!!!!