It’s hard to look at the news today and not see anything relating to the current earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan. Buildings have been leveled, radiation is leaking from nuclear power plants and is being compared to a current Chernobyl and thousands upon thousands have been killed.

One thing that I find utterly astounding is the amount of jokes and lightheartedness being made about the situation.

Being Japanese myself, my family and I were worried for hours about the condition of our relatives. We finally got through later that night and found out that everyone in our family was okay.

It was coincidence that I missed school the Friday it happened. The Monday after the devastation, I arrived at school to find my peers asking why I missed Friday and making jokes that I had missed because of what happened in Japan. Only one other student stuck up for me, telling my classmates to not act so insensitive toward the incident. Only one.

I also arrived in class to students discussing other trivial issues, and when the topic of the earthquake and tsunami was brought up, students replied and said to quit talking about it because it wasn’t relevant anymore.

Worst of all, Gilbert Gottfried, better known as the Aflac duck, was talking about how he just broke up with his girlfriend said, “As the Japanese would say, ‘Another one will come floating by.'”

It breaks my heart to see my own nation so desensitized. When other tragedies happened in the past, people seemed to pull together for a common cause. Even the donations from the American public has been slight. Maybe it’s the distance or lack of cultural crossovers, but I’m surprised to see such a lack of compassion.

 I was happy to see that “pray for Japan” was trending on Twitter, but it only lasted one day and was pushed aside by other topics.

I’m not asking for people to stop the world for Japan, or even donate money. All I ask is that you keep Japan in your prayers.