The Merapi Eruption “Let’s get away from it” vs “Just deal with it”

“Doesn’t’ it better for you when you come to Bandung immediately?”

That’s what Icha-a cousin of my friend in my boarding house said when she heard about the Merapi eruption. When Merapi erupted in late October 2010, there are many things happened at Yogyakarta. The pyroclastic flow, the earthquakes, the lava floods, the ash rains…all of that were just the small things that happened because of the eruption. It was undeniable that all of that were dangerous and could take hundreds of lives in a matter of seconds.

Because of that, there were many people who were freak out about it. There were so many people, especially parents, that told their children to go back home as soon as possible. “Look for any plane tickets to go back to Banjarmasin immediately!” said my mother when she heard that Universitas Gadjah Mada gave a holiday for all the students because of the eruption. I bet that at this period of time almost all the boarding houses in Yogyakarta were almost empty. Even my friend that kept staying at the house looked at me weirdly and asked “Why are you still here? Are you not come back home?” It was really a top priority to go away from the eruption at that time that all people seemed to want to get away from Yogyakarta as soon as possible.

But did you know what the funny thing was? People who were freak out in the boarding houses and all around Yogyakarta were all people that came from outside Yogyakarta area. The people that came from Yogyakarta and kept staying in the boarding house are all fine about that. “It’s just an earthquake! And it is small too!” said Lily-a girl that lives in another boarding house lightly and nonchalantly “So why must freak out? The house will not broke down after all!” Dian, another occupants of the same boarding house just laughed and commented that “Why you must go so far away back home just because a small ash rain?” They take it so easy, like it was not a problem at all. It kinda funny that the people who were freak out were the people who were miles away and the one who  were near just stay cool and acted like nothing happened.

Well…maybe we could blame the anxiousness and desperation that we felt to the media, especially television. It was clear that every time there was news about Merapi eruption, all we could see was that the eruption destroyed and covered everything that came in its way. “There is so many people that being brought to Sardjito hospital because of the eruption,” said a reporter in a news report. Seeing and hearing something like that every time, it was only natural that people would freak out, right? But well… being scared for something unclear was not good either, because it was only meant that you were panic and scared over nothing.

Well…it's up to you to decide which side you are, but I hope you chose the right choice!