Okay, this is ridiculous …
by Jeremy on Jan.11, 2007, under Uncategorized
I got woken up by an “emergency” that turned out to be a false alarm … I sat down and checked my RSS Feeds, because I couldn’t get back to sleep. Let me share a little something with you …
Back at the beginning of December, I posted an entry regarding how powerful the Human Spirit was after the death of James Kim. Thousands … I’d say millions of people supported his family after what happened.
Very recently, a 13-year-old boy went missing from a bus stop less than 0.3 miles away from his home. The story makes it onto Digg, and I go there to Digg the story up. The kind of comments I saw there were absolutely appalling.
Hardly anyone seems to give a crap about this kid, because “kids go missing everyday” … But, everyone was immensely supportive of James Kim’s family when he died. Well, guess what … People die everyday, too.
Just because you don’t care, doesn’t mean that there’s not a family in Missouri that is scared to death because their little boy is missing. Just because you don’t know what it feels like to have your child taken away from you by a kidnapper, doesn’t mean that you have the right to make such asinine comments about the fact that this story made it onto Digg. It takes one click … one freaking click to Digg that story up and get more people to see it. And whether or not you choose to believe it, the more people that do see this story, the better the chance that a life will be saved.
If you have even the smallest ounce of sympathy for this boy and his family, you will do one of two things. Digg this story up, or make sure that this picture is seen in as many places as possible.
If you don’t give a damn about this boy or his family, then do nothing. But, keep your mouth shut, because it’s people like you that have put the world in the sorry state that it’s in.
January 11th, 2007 on 1:03 am
Yeah, really. This kid that’s missing is actually someone I know by person, too. I don’t expect everyone to care; that’s the way some people are. But some people do take freedom of speech too freely, and have a habit of verbally pissing on something for no other reason than the fact that they can. Ironically, it’s these people that get hurt the most when it’s done back to them. But if some individuals would really learn to realize there’s a world outside of themselves for a few seconds, the atmosphere of the place might be a bit better.
January 11th, 2007 on 5:09 am
I don’t know him or know what I can do about it physically or outwardly. But I do know that the least I could do would be to pray that he gets home safely to his family and everything works out. I know these things tend to turn for the worst but there’s always ALWAYS a chance they won’t. That’s the kind of thing you just have to have faith in.
It’s always real sad when things like this happen and just because it makes the news doesn’t mean they’re blowing the story out of proportion (like a lot of people on forums like that might say). If how much somebody cared about their child got their child on the news and out there for people to see and find, most children that have ever gone missing would be on the news constantly.
But we all know that doesn’t happen. It depends on who you know and who wants to broadcast your story. I don’t think it’s fair (like you said) for people to be so evil about it just because it made the news. They need to freaking grow up and realize how sad they’re making their own lives, not just everybody else’s.
January 11th, 2007 on 7:25 am
The World is What We Make It!
The more that people take time to care for one another and realize that we are on this planet not for service to oneself, but to serve others. Serve other first and foremost and ultimately you shall be served.
Caring is a decision, apathy is a decision, and not caring with intent to not care is clearly a decision. The question you have to ask yourself is if you were this boy or this boys family what type of decision would you be hoping and praying for from others. Answer that, and then you now know what you might do.
May our paths be blessed!
January 11th, 2007 on 8:40 am
But if every time someone died or a kid went missing a digg story hit front page, it would be full of them. Digg is supposed to be a news site and unless there was something that differentiates it from all the other kids that go missing, it’s not news worthy.
No I’m not being heartless, I just don’t think it’s “news”. But having said that, most of Digg’s articles aren’t news anyway, so perhaps my arguments are invalid.
January 11th, 2007 on 8:11 pm
“In the United States and Canada, an AMBER Alert is a notification to the general public, by various media outlets, of a confirmed child abduction… AMBER Alerts are distributed via commercial radio stations, satellite radio, television stations, and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System, as well as via e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, and wireless device SMS text messages.”
I think it’s safe to say it is news worthy, as that’s the whole point of an Amber Alert, and while I might be wrong, I don’t think Amber Alerts happen all that often.
January 11th, 2007 on 9:00 pm
I’m going to have to agree with Zaben, on this one. The fact of the matter is, these stories don’t make it to the news all that often. The ones that do generally are Amber Alerts. Sure, lots of children go missing everyday … But, with these you’re given the opportunity to make a difference in the life of that child and the child’s family. Not all families get that blessing. And instead of abusing that and saying it’s not “news worthy” or whatever, why not actually help spread the word that someone’s loved one is in serious danger? Do what you can to help your fellow man.
Like Covenantor said: