Thanks for commenting, Joe. I like the way you put it, that we adjust our view to make certain things part of the background - kind of like white noise, I suppose.

How completely true! We tend to tune out the suffering we see on a routine basis. I couldn't tell you how many homeless people I walk by wihtout barely noticing. It's not that I don't care, they just seem to fade from my view after a while. It's kind of strange the way we as a society adjust our default view to relegate this type of scene to the background.