On the "bath salts" incidents...

Warning: this post and news links contain some violent details, reader discretion is advised. 

(I originally wrote this in the wake of the incidents, but forgot to post it. It is slightly dated for that reason, but still worth talking about.)

To be honest, I didn't know what to say or think about all the past reports of men (two of them were possibly high on so-called "bath salts") who committed great destruction upon themselves or others. Well, other than "Good God, that's horrifying!"

That was until everyone I know (and I do mean everyone) started making zombie jokes (with the solitary exception of my little sister, who continues to remain a badass).

At first, I didn't know how to react. To be honest, I never considered "zombie apocalypse" when I read the stories (see first paragraph for the initial reaction). After a while, as it all sunk in, the zombie jokes started to get to me. I had trouble figuring out why. After reading about it on ONTD_Political, even when the posters' feelings were similar to mine, I couldn't find my reason. I thought about it all day yesterday. And then it hit me: no one talked about the victim (in this case, I'm referring to the homeless man that was attacked in Florida). The guy's life has changed dramatically and, in all honesty, it could be something he may never truly recover from. The pain, in both its physical and psychological forms, I cannot even begin to fathom. If anything, I hope he gets all the help he needs and lives out the rest of his life in a safe place.

~

I know humor is used to help cope with a serious event, but this doesn't seem like the right time. It erases the fact there were people seriously injured and killed. It deflects conversation about "bath salts", a serious and dangerous street drug, especially its effects on people. Those are conversations we need to have, but we are too scared to. Instead, we resort to tasteless jokes that only skirt the real issues. We forget that there are grieving families and mortally-wounded people.
 
Have I lost some respect for those who made the jokes? I won't lie, yes I have. What I hope for is for these people to examine their thoughts and reread the stories (if they are triggered by extreme violence, then I don't want them to do that to themselves).

I will link to the news stories so you can read them for yourselves. I combed through them to make sure pictures weren't posted of the man's injuries. But sadly, I cannot assure you that it will remain that way. Exercise extreme caution, my friends. There are jerks on the Internet and the comments sections are to be avoided.

To my friends who read this and get mad at me for me being mad at them, please read the entry again. And no, I'm not a politically-correct, oversensitive, bleeding-heart liberal. I am, however, a liberal with a sense of humor who knows when not to make inappropriate jokes. There is a difference, y'all.