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Editorials/Columns
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The video, made by a group of teenagers in Cocoa Beach who
watched a man drown in a lake without offering any type of assistance, was hard to watch. The audio that ac- companied it was even worse.
The sound of the teens mocking the man as he struggled to stay afloat was about as callous as you can imagine. One kid taunts the victim.
He tells him, “ain't no- body gonna help your dumb a--.” Another says with a chuckle, “he looks like an al- ligator got him.”
The jokes, being delivered non-stop, continue through- out the recording until the drowning man finally sub- merges under water for the last time. At that point, one of the teens makes a chilling observation. “Oh s--- I think buddy's dead.” To which an- other teen replies noncha- lantly, “man, whatcha gonna do with that blunt? Fire that b---- up.”
Their actions were cruel. They were unconscionable. They were shocking beyond description.
You could pull out a The- saurus and pick any syn- onym of the word horrible and it would probably fit the display of inhumanity shown on that video. But, the one thing the teens’ actions can't be described as is criminal.
I make this point in re- sponse to the ridiculous call being made by a number of individuals who want to see these youngsters punished by the law for simply being little cold-hearted bastards. While taking that course of action may satisfy those who believe the teens need to be taught a serious lesson for showing such a lack of com- passion for another human life, the reality is, if we started locking people up for being a--holes, there would- n't be anyone left on the out- side to secure the gate.
Even though there's no denying that these teens acted deplorably, the fact of the matter is that, they have the right to carry themselves as immorally as they choose.
In that regard, their be- havior shouldn't be consid- ered any more of a jailable offense than the man or woman who cheats on his or her spouse, the individual who kills animals for sport, or the minister who secretly watches porn.
All of these could be clas- sified as prime examples of morally bankrupt behavior. The only difference between those hypothetical scenarios and the teens in the drown- ing incident is that the teens were either too high or too stupid to realize that their ex- tremely dark sense of humor wouldn't be well received by the rest of civilized society.
Another aspect of this story that I believe a lot of people are overlooking is that, at the end of the day, we're talking about children behaving badly. Individuals, with underdeveloped brains, who are prone to make very poor decisions.
With their young minds being constantly bombarded by violent images from movies, television shows, news reports and internet videos, should we really be surprised that they've grown numb to the idea of death? After all, We made them that
way. Watching someone die through the lens of a camera phone, to them, is probably like watching a Facebook Live post. In their eyes, the lines have been blurred to the point where they can't see the difference.
As much as we don't want to admit it, this new genera- tion of sick-minded, uncar- ing and apathetic individuals is our own creation. We al- lowed them exposure to all forms of depravity from the time they were born. And now we have the nerve to wonder what's wrong with them?
According to the Bible, “that what you sow, you shall also reap.”
If that's indeed the case, re- gardless of how bitter or sour the harvest turns out to be, it's ours to keep and we only have ourselves to blame for the disgusting aftertaste.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company. You can write to Mr. Barr at: Clarence Barr 43110- 018, Oakdale F. C. I., P. O. BOX 5000, Oakdale, LA 71463.
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Getting Hillsborough County In Love With Buses
What is it about the Hillsborough Area Re- gional Transit Authority that local politi- cians and the people they represent either just don’t like or simply don’t believe they should be made to pay for?
After all, who doesn’t love a bus? Certain peo- ple reply yes, they like buses alright, but what’s the justice of upping the tax-pay on a public transit bus, if you’re riding around in a car? Such thinking certainly sent bean counters and word-coiners scrambling behind closed and bolted doors trying to explain why more buses were good unless they cost more. . .
For instance, the HART board held an emer- gency meeting to iron out whether or not the millage rate should be raised.
Millage: now, there’s a word that always re- minded some of us country folk of chicken feed. But millage isn’t chicken-food. And when placed along-side extra funds for additional buses or (Gasp! Gulp!) the possible light-rail, the idea of raising millage rates via taxes conjures up ghosts from the Civil War past.
And here’s where Robert E. Lee and HART millage-rate tax raising opponents have some- thing in common....
The majority of public transit riders are Black- Latino-and poor. Consequently, Conservative rabble rousers who drive pickup trucks grouse, “Why should we pay for transit we don’t use?” Meanwhile, HART idea-experts still can’t come up with gimmicks that would make the public fall in love with riding those big, fat, shiny bovine-buses. Maybe they’re asking the wrong ones.
Perhaps, they should ask the children. Or maybe, local politicians should ride a HART bus at least once a week, to support the campaign.
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