And for your information, on 9/11 I spent several hours waiting around at the Red Cross to give blood, after Katrina I adopted an abandoned dog, I gave money to the Tsunami & Katrina victims and I have sent packages to the troops overseas. Oh yeah, and I have prayed for all of these people, I guess I should stood around with teddybears and spent my time crying at vigils instead of actually getting off my ass and trying to make things better.
So why criticize your friend who "immediately drove to NYC because she "had to be there with the victims" even though she didn't know anyone" and "think its weird to act like this when you have no personal connection to a situation?"
You obviously have no personal connection to Katrina but you gave blood as well as the other things you have done. You are involved, more than most. Your beef seems to be how people get involved [act] and not the criterion about having a personal connection. I don't view your friend's actions as "weird." but you know her better than I do.
To my memory, it was almost immediately obvious that large amounts of blood would not be needed after the attack, sadly -- because so few people were only injured, and so many were killed outright. (Not to mention, all most all that unneeded donated blood had to be thrown out -- then weeks later the nation had shortages of blood because everybody had "already donated.")
Adopting a Katrina dog, though, that was a great thing to do.
And I agree with you completely on the bathetic teddybear heaps and candlelight vigil phenomena.