To most people, the seas the day café is just another coffee shop with a clever name. But today, it made headlines because of their neighbors, OceanGate, the company involved in the “catastrophic implosion” which resulted in the death of 5 people including CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush.
The company’s initial aim was to send submarines to surveil the the Titanic shipwreck. However, communication was lost 2 hours into descent and since then expeditions have begun to find and retrieve the submarine.
Corie Reed, owner of the café, says that the shop has become a popular destination for the staff of the company. Reed claim to have heard the news about the implosion from one of her regulars and while her proximity to the company may be helping, she says that the town is “hurting” since the company and supporting jobs account for almost 40,000 jobs in the surrounding areas and could put the entire region in jeopardy.
Amidst all the joking and viral memes on social media, Reed urges the online community to look at those directly affected with just a little bit of empathy and not just a hashtag because as she says, “they’re also just people with families.”
While asking the internet to be sensitive is pointless in this day and age when it is so much easier for anyone to be a bully, the online community can let Reed’s message be a beacon of hope or just another list of forgotten hashtags. But I hope for the sake of those affected by this tragedy that the rest of the world regards them with just a little bit of empathy.