I Dare You To Read This Book.

The 32

u/SirTobiasWade
A lot of you probably know about the Chilean mining accident of 2010. It was also called the "Los 33" because of the 33 miners trapped underground. It's amazing that all 33 survived the entire 69 days it took until they were rescued.

There was a whole media circus about it with an estimated billion people watching the rescue on TV or the internet. There was so much news, that one fact was completely drowned out - and to me, it's the most important one of all.

I became interested in the topic because of a school paper I was writing. I mentioned the paper to my grandfather (which was a terrible mistake because he is ZEALOUS about school). He was trying to get my mother to enroll me in an international baccalaureate college prep school at FIRST GRADE. Education is my future - he wishes he had those opportunities when he was a kid - I'm an ungrateful brat for taking my fortune for blessing - you know the drill.

Anyway, he wouldn't let me use wikipedia or any easy source for the essay. Instead, he called up his old friend who actually worked on the rescue crew in Chile. So what should have been an hour long paper turned into an hour phone interview, three hours of driving, and a whole BOOK about rescue operations. Who since the internet has been invented ever needed to read a book about anything?

Meeting the rescue worker guy was pretty interesting though. He had tan leather skin like you'd expect to find on a car seat instead of a person. His accent was a little thick, and sometimes he couldn't find the right word so he had to switch to Spanish. I know next to zero Spanish, but my grandfather would make me write down everything he said verbatim so I could translate it at home. Granddad literally said "If you try to take the easy road in life, life is going to take the easy road with you. Right up your ass". I don't know what that means, but I didn't really feel like asking him to clarify.

About half-way through the interview with the rescue guy, My grandfather got up to go to the bathroom. I was asking questions about how many people were down there, and he kept saying "treinta-y-dos", or 32. The movie is even called "The 33" - everything online says The 33, but he was adamant. Then he gave me this weird look - like he was shell-shocked or something. The kind of blank look you expect to see holocaust survivors wearing. He leaned in real close and started rattling off some stuff in English and some in Spanish, and I did my best to keep up.

It wasn't until the car ride home when I was able to translate what he said. I checked it half a dozen times - I even ran the transcript by my Grandfather (who is fluent, but still made me do my own translating first). Here is what we put together:

"All the media - the news - the story spinners - they all say 33 miners were trapped. And why wouldn't they? 33 people came out of that mine. The miners were trapped 700 meters in the ground - there was no way in or out. But the miners who come out - right when I first pull them out - they all say the same thing.

There were only 32 miners trapped. They count and they count - every day - every few hours so everybody taken care of - and then one day they count again and there is 33.

But they were a band of brothers - you can't go through an ordeal like that and not become family - and they stuck by each other. They never said one of them didn't belong.

But I heard stories. They say one miner didn't sleep like the others. He just sat against the wall and hummed some tune nobody recognized.

They say one miner didn't eat like the others, but they didn't complain because they had to save their provisions.

They say one miner - they know who but they no telling - one miner didn't talk about his family or friends or wanting to get out.

All this one miner talked about was how comforting the darkness felt. How they - the trapped miners - were the lucky ones.

That the earth only swallowed the deserving ones, because she would keep them safe.

And all the rest would drown in a sea of fire of their own kindling."

This isn't about the paper anymore. Next week I'm going to drive back to see my grandfather's friend. I'm going to try and track down the unexplained miner and see what happened to him. So if anyone has a suggestion of what I should ask - let me know and I'll include it in my next interview.