There was a refreshing dearth of religious quotes and proclamations after the nine coal miners were lifted to safety yesterday. After a quick scan of CNN, the AP, and the NY Times, I only found one “it was a miracle” and one “praise the Lord” — both of those uttered in more colloquial than religious terms. Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker made a goofball statement about “providential intervention” and one woman said, “I knew I couldn’t lose my dad and my husband. I just knew it” after recounting her prayerful efforts, understandably forgetting that women everyday do indeed lose their fathers and husbands to accidents and wars and disease and starvation and you-name-it, despite their prayerful pleadings.
But the miners themselves set a much more positive and inspiring tone with their accounts of their emotional survival strategies below — their “live or die as a group” vow, lashing themselves together with rope; their writing goodbye “l love you” notes on cardboard to their loved ones and stuffing them in their lunch pails; their talking with each other about the last thing they’d done with their families; their ‘snuggling’ with one another to keep warm and provide emotional support. And the quote that got the most play in the media was about a marriage ritual. “The only day in my life I never kissed my wife goodbye before I went to work. That had to be the day.”
To me, this is the cool story… that these tough, “We need some chew” guys seemingly had their emotional shit together, during and after their rescue. I wonder if anyone else will notice?
July 31 update: Star Tribune columnist Kim Ode noticed: Be Glad for a Miner’s Kiss.