The rescued miners in Chile

Yesterday, the world rejoiced as all 33 trapped miners in Chile were rescued. The whole world has been following this story and it's great that it had a happy ending. These men and their families and friends have been through a terrible time and I hope they will have a chance to recuperate and celebrate as they want to. By the way, the picture to the right is from here and is attributed to Martin Bernetti of AFP. It shows part of the huge number of people it took to pull off this miracle.

What I'm afraid of, though, is that these men and their families and friends will be hounded by hoards of people wanting to question them. They will be offered huge sums fo money for the rights to their stories. Their lives will be investigated for books and articles. People will look into their background for good reasons but also just for sheer meanness - there are going to be people who want to find problems with the poor people who have been through so much. I know a lot of this will come from people who are just curious. Many of the people crushing in around them will be well meaning. "How could they do it? What a wonderful, uplifting story. It must be told!" will be the reasons for intruding in their lives.

Well, I'm sure the world-wide interest was comforting at times and I think they deserve cheers and congratulations. But can we now just leave them alone? I wish them peace.