Whose heart didn't break when those words were broadcast?
A combination of being busy and being shell-shocked has kept me from posting about this sooner, but last night I watched Anderson Cooper's special "Stranded" report detailing the Kims' horrible ordeal.
When this story first hit the news I found myself tearing up every time I read or saw an update. The whole family element touched a deep cord - and I imagine that's why this story was such a national fixation while related stories involving only a single man, say, or a couple (i.e., no kids), scarcely made it out of their specific locales.
At any rate, like most everyone else I suppose, I was engaged in debates about the wisdom - or lack thereof - of the Kims' apparent decisions. Early on there were a lot of questions about how they wound up out there, and I was a staunch defender of James & Kati. It's not that hard to get lost, their map didn't indicate the treachery of the roads they wound up taking, etc.
BUT... after seeing a detailed retracing of their steps, I cannot help but wonder what in the hell they were thinking. There are a dozen questions I could pose here that I believe call into question the judgment of James and Kati Kim that night. But to me the two most poignant are these: (1) Why did an extreme tech nut like James Kim not have a GPS device with him while on the road with his two small children in the Pacific Northwest in the winter in a vehicle that did not have 4-wheel drive? and (2) Why, when they reached that critical fork in the road, did one of them not get out of the car to examine that little sign closely - the one that would have told them that their coastal destination was to the left and not to the right?! That one makes my hair stand on end. Point the car at the sign, turn on the high beams, get out of the car, and see for certain what the hell the sign is telling you.
Without ranting further, I will simply say that I feel it is incumbent upon Kati Kim to come forward and reveal exactly what transpired that fateful night when they became lost, in order to dispel the public's doubts about her and James's good sense. James may have made an heroic trek through the wilderness in an attempt to save his family, but Kati needs to speak up in both James's and her own defense because knowing what we know now, this story is boiling down to a mother and father making dangerous mistakes - and, it seems, dangerous decisions - for themselves and their two small children.
This isn't to say I lack compassion for the entire Kim family. The whole thing is positively devastating - and incredibly frustrating. It was very telling to me when Eva Kim, being interviewed when the whole family was still missing, said that while her family were concerned for her brother and his wife, she felt it was "unfair" that the children were out there. That comment suggests that early on the Kim family were questioning James and Kati's decisions to travel in conditions that were conducive to risks of becoming lost or worse. That's probably the growing public opinion, and I hope Kati will clarify her and James's reasoning/processing. The actions they took that led their family to become stranded out there do not seem like the actions of two intelligent, resourceful individuals - at least not two clear-thinking intelligent, resourceful individuals. Again - it's
terrible that this happened... but
why did it happen?!
I mean, the speculation can go on endlessly. No one wants to blame the victim. Kati, please speak out and defend yourself and your husband.
