If I were fortunate enough to inhabit one of the many beautiful, albeit prone to massive wave attack, islands that dot the Pacific Ocean, I'm not sure if I'd want the guy in the hawaiian shirt with a grin on his face manning the controls when a billion tons of water is rapidly approaching. Brian Shiro, the jovial fellow in the picture, is a Pacific warning center geophysicist. Not to disparage him, because I am sure he's a great geophysicists and has plenty of tsunamis to predict in his future, but maybe he should not have given as his stock photo a picture from the day of the company luau. Sure, he was excited for some mai tai's and hot dogs, but this face does not instill confidence in me that he's ready to call in the warning on a big wave.
However, I'm sure Brian did not pick the photo to accompany the article which was written about the Tsunami Warning Center. Maybe the good folks at CNN wanted to put a happy face on the Center, which I'm guessing may 10 people know about.
"Why is this even news?", you may ask. Well, a few days ago, American Samoa was belted by a tsunami, which was triggered by a massive earthquake. As with most major natural disasters, this event was complete with death, damage, and general devastation. Maybe, to match the mood of the situation, a picture of frantic Center workers might have been more important. Not a picture of a dude chilling at his desk waiting to cut out early so he can hit the beach. I don't recall photos of jolly FEMA staff lounging at the office after Katrina flattened New Orleans. There were photos of FEMA staff lounging, but they looked concerned.
It's cool to draw in other relevant "news" after a major event, but maybe try and have the photos not say "forecasting tsunamis and warning tiny islands about their impending destruction" is like casual Friday every day.
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