Friday, December 07, 2012

Unnecessary Death

It's hard to predict what will send someone over the edge, but the Australian DJs who pulled the "royal prank" certainly picked the wrong woman. The fact is that this prank was stupid yet successful and the DJs got a lot of attention. Restraining that urge to break rules would put most entertainers out of business and I'm sure the DJs had no idea what their actions would cause. They simply called the hospital, impersonating royalty in order to get info on Kate and her condition, then aired their victory. It must not have dawned on them that their prank could get staff fired, ruin a livelihood, destroy a family forever, compromise a person's health/security or simply be someone's "last straw." A nurse who was one of the hoax victims committed suicide (allegedly but probably) a day later. This is just so tragic--that Jacintha Saldanha, the "excellent nurse" who probably did more good for the world than the DJs, would let this joke affect her. It is so easy to be audacious without thinking of the consequences (hear that, Imus?). It happens every day--like the kid who killed himself after his roommate secretly filmed him and blasted him on twitter. Some people just want to do their jobs and live under the radar. This death makes me so sad. The lesson in this might stick for about a month, but then the lure of being outrageous/famous for two seconds will be too great. No doubt, the two pranksters will become more famous and get book deals to detail their hardships.

4 comments:

John Haracopos said...

I Couldn't Agree More!!!

Anonymous said...

People don't think ahead any more. They just click away and think each click of the moment signals brilliance. No consequences. Then tragedy. I agree with Dish but just wanted to suggest another aspect.

Anonymous said...

The radio station says that the two DJs are the REAL victims. Proof of twisted thinking.

Dish said...

I agree about the clicking and not thinking. Evidence on twitter all the time of just being idiotic then apologizing. Terrible. Cannot believe the DJs would be victims. Who started it in the first place? Also Morrissey is blaming the royal family, which makes me hate him.