Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

April 21, 2013

Don't Mess with Mass

One thing that stands out to me, having moved back not long ago, is the aggressive in-your-face'ness of people in Massachusetts.  I grew used to more mellow attitudes on the west coast.  We have always been referred to as Massholes and I've always been proud to call myself a Masshole.  I realize that may not be seen as something to be proud of by our European and Canadian friends, but out here it sure is.  

As everyone knows, the Boston Marathon bombers were killed/caught, just a few days after the bombing.  Thanks to all the photos and surveillance videos, the leads poured into authorities, and by Friday morning, they had the entire city and suburbs in lockdown.  No one was allowed out of their homes/apartments, all schools and college classes were canceled, the MBTA stopped running trains & buses, no cars allowed to drive around and the FAA prohibited aircraft travel over the city.  Residents complied without complaint and cheered on the cops from their livingrooms.  After the initial shock of the bombing had set in, people became Wicked Pissed, Wicked Fast.  It was like, excuse me?  You did WHAT in MY city?  Unacceptable! We're comin at you and we're comin at you hard.

Everyone was posting conflicting news all over Facebook the morning of the manhunt, which was kind of annoying, but I did like the pictures, most of which conveyed the 'you mess with Boston and you will be sorry' message to the world.





Oh snap.


See what I mean?  

Right before the suspects fled during the overnight hours and before the lockdown, the cops were able to kill the 26 year old bomber but his 19 year old brother got away.  Not before they murdered an MIT (Mass Institute of Technology) officer in his car.  The kid managed to get as far as Watertown, where he hid in a tarp covered boat.  The authorities lifted the curfew and when the resident came out of his house, he noticed the edge of the tarp was flapping in the wind, and had blood on it.  He quietly slipped inside and called the cops, who riddled the boat with gunfire, wounding but not killing the 19 year old. 

Then these popped up within minutes.  And as for the guy's poor boat?  Donations are pouring in from across the USA towards purchasing a new one, since this one is full of bullet holes and was taken into evidence.


But this one really cracked me up, of North Korea's Kim Jong Un.  Yeah, dude.....prolly not a good idea.

This photo portrays a policeman delivering 2 gallons of milk to a family that had run out of milk that morning and couldn't leave the house.  It was the right thing to do.

Slain MIT Officer Sean Collier's escort.

Never forget.

14 comments:

  1. I really admire and respect the city's attitude. It's beyond NYC, Chicago, ANY city. Boston is officially the most badass city EVER! I'd need lessons in attitude to live there. I'm sorry for what happened, but if ever a city was prepared to deal with a bombing, it's Boston. I'm thankful so many medical personnel were so close.

    I think there is a LOT to say about the Celtic and Italian love of a beat down, in this. Yeah, the message is amazingly clear: don't fuck with Boston!

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  2. Thanks for sharing all that info with us, JoJo. I always knew Boston had attitude, at one point I wanted to go to college and live there, but drifted to the West Coast instead.

    Thanks for the education on Massholes - I'd never heard the term prior to this.

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  3. Wow, JoJo.

    It is amazing how the city pulled together after this. Thank you for your post.

    I love the policeman delivering milk to help that family. How cool is that?

    I had not heard of that term either. :)

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  4. I always thought Boston and Massachusetts were just cool places where the people had really annoying accents. Not so. I have so much respect for the way people in the whole Boston area reacted AND acted throughout this drama. I have a feeling, though, that this could have been a lot of places in America because by and large Americans are good strong people. Thanks for sharing all of this, JoJo!

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  5. Anonymous12:27 PM

    Wish we could have done this after 9/11! So glad Boston stood its ground and hope every city in America follows the leader!

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  6. I think it could have been lots of places in America too, but I think what surprised me was that the bombing happened on late Monday afternoon and it took less than 48 hours for everyone to get pissed off. You kind of expect the anger stage after a week or so of grief.

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  7. Loved this post! Boston has a lot to be proud of.

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  8. The whole thing makes me so sad. Sad for everyone involved... the MIT officer's escort is amazing. Well done Boston.

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  9. Loved this post! The pic with the clouds is awesome!!

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  10. it was a great reaction by the city, but there was a part of the story I didn't know and it concerns me - a resident found his tarp flapping and so the police riddled it with bullets? Seriously? it could have been anyone in there. I mean, they locked down the city, where did the homeless go? that's a bit over the top to me, they could have checked first!

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  11. First time I've heard that term, too. So proud of Boston. You wrote a great post.

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  12. This is a great post JoJo. I am dying laughing at the "Note to self" picture lol. what a crazy week we had last week!!!

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  13. What a wonderful post! Should I move to Boston now? :-D I applaud Boston. Stand proud! Everybody should be united just like that.

    Sonnia J. Kemmer

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