Miner Thoughts

I'm sure everyone has seen the news that the miners in Chile were all rescued earlier this week.  Great to see some good news, I found it quite addictive watching them come out.  I love the reactions they had to their freedom, everything from hugging strangers, kneeling in prayer and handing out souvenir rocks. 

I just want to say before I go on the I have great respect for the miners who seem to have stayed calm during the whole 69 days.  The first days when they didn't know if anyone realised they were still alive must have been awful. 

I get a bit claustrophobic so the idea of being trapped underground in a pretty small place is horrific to me.  My dad was a miner, in fact most of my male ancestors were, my great great grandfather was killed in a mining accident, I found the details on a website.  I have actually been in an a couple of mines, one in a museum and one working mine.  I didn't like either and couldn't wait to get out.   But I have being thinking that apart from the youngest these guys have been miners for a long time.  They are used to these conditions and most likely don't get claustrophobic so the things that would terrify me wouldn't bother them as much.

When I was reading about the preparations for them coming out I got the impression they were going to be kept isolated and that they were expecting them to be really traumatised.  That's not the impression I got watching.  I wonder how much of that is the initial adrenaline rush and excitement of getting rescued?  I'm also wondering how much the press have hyped the expected trauma for the story?  What will the long term effects of these events be for these men, will they get post traumatic shock?  I don't really know, I think I would have nightmares about tunnels and being trapped.

The whole ordeal made me think a few different and slightly random things that I thought I would share:

1) Apart from the first days how different was the miners experience to that of the big brother contestants?  OK it was dark, damp and probably a bit smelly but the rest?  Trapped in a confined space with a group of other people you wouldn't necessarily choose to be with.  Entirely dependant on the outsiders to pass you information, food and water.  Your day broken into tasks to keep you active.  A few TV cameras and 24 hour coverage all we needed was Davina presenting and some kind of voting.  How long before a reality TV show thinks of recreating this?

2) How long will it be before the Fenix rescue capsule is a new ride at Alton Towers or Disneyland?  Can you stand the terror of the Fenix rescue ride?

3) If in some kind of weird event I ended up trapped with my work colleagues for 69 days there is no way we would all make it out alive.  I work with a man I am going to affectionately call the Prince of Darkness, in this situation there would be a choice between him or the rest of us surviving. 

4) 5 of them were coming out to face the fact that their wives and mistresses had met.  Would you perhaps be taking the next shuttle back down?  5 out of 33 men here have a long term mistress, do you think this is a reasonable representation of the numbers across the rest of men?

5) If you were one of the miners and assuming the TV and book deals don't set you up for life would you ever go back in a mine again?

6) I misguidedly thought my dad as an ex miner would be interested in the rescue but when I mentioned it during the news he wasn't.  I guess when he walked out on the last day he put it behind him although to here him talk after a few pints you would think he was still down on the face.  He did comment that if they had got trapped no one would have drilled down to get them.  Makes sense, they were mining 9 miles out under the North Sea.