When a death video goes viral

“For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”

Proverbs 1:16

There are few things more precious than a Mom and Dad’s memories of their children, of guiding them through the laughter and the crying, the discoveries and the disappointments. Watching the twinkle of innocence in their little infant eyes develop into the sparkle of wonder and anticipation during the years of adolescence, to become the brilliant star of a promising adulthood.

When those memories are unconscionably violated by images that are impossible to erase it is nothing short of an abominable tragedy. 

When I came across the news story that the parents of Dayna Kempson-Schacht received a graphic video of her just moments after her fatal car accident, and that the video had been posted online, the first question that popped into my mind was: Why would anyone want to do that? How can someone be so callous and insensitive as to send grieving parents a fresh reminder of such a devastating loss?

It was suggested that the video was sent to the parents only to make them aware that the video existed. OK, I can see warning the parents that the video existed, but did they have to send them the actual video? I guess that one person’s good intention is another person’s grievous invasion, separated only by the thin line of common sense, or lack thereof.

But is it merely a lack of common sense, or something deeper and darker?

With this incident coming on the heels of the coverage of the Tyler Clementi story I’m certain that the conversation regarding the sometimes catastrophic combination of technology and temptation will intensify. The thing is that while technology presents its own set of temptations it is simply modernizing those temptations that have plagued mankind since the beginning of time.

But right now my thoughts and prayers are with Dayna’s parents. I can only imagine that the day that they received the video they woke up determined to get through another day, armed with only the loving and lasting memories of their daughter. I’m sure that it never occurred to them that they would be dragged down into someone else’s spiritual poverty.

I figure that someone has to be living a pretty miserable life to pull a stunt like that. But like my mother has always said: Misery loves company.

The Cigar Guy Am I

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that we are living in a world where 15 minutes of fame can easily be forced upon us, whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not. The recent web craze of trying to figure out who the “Cigar Guy” was in the crowd at the Ryder Cup tournament is just the latest incident to drive this point home in a frightening manner.

I say that it’s frightening because, while there are those who crave attention no matter what the cost (choose any reality tv show), there are many of us who would rather not be exposed to viral fame.

It’s gotten to the point where you can be out anywhere, minding your business, acting goofy and having fun, or doing the most mundane and boring thing imaginable, and wind up having your image Photoshopped all over the globe, onto images that you might not want to be associated with. How crazy is that?

Sure, fame might appear to be fun from afar, but when it comes knocking on your door unexpectantly, it could turn out to be a totally different animal. Just ask Steven Holmes.

That’s the 19-year-old kid living in England whose life was turned upside down when megastar rapper Kanye West decided to follow him on Twitter, calling Steven “The Chosen One,” because he would be the only person that Kanye would follow.

It was a megathrill for Steven…for a few moments. You know what they say about fame, how fleeting it can be? Well, in this case the script was flipped: Steven fled from fame. Once it got out that Steven was Kanye’s only Twitter pal, Steven was overwhelmed by requests for interviews from the media and constantly hounded by his old and newfound Twitter pals, desperate to touch the hem of Steven’s viral garment. Steven wanted no part of the fame, saying that it was “vacuous,” and that “not everybody wants to be famous.”

You can also ask Steve Bartman about how it feels to catch a case of viral fame. If you can find him. Back in 2003 Steve made the mistake of trying to catch a foul ball at a playoff game between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins. At the time it happened there was a widely held view that he prevented the Cubs outfielder- Moises Alou- from catching the ball to get the batter out.

When that didn’t happen and the Cubs went on to lose the game, Steve was basically blamed for extending the curse on the Cubs that has prevented them from winning a World Series in over 100 years.

The next day Steve’s name and face were all over the place. He became the most reviled and despicable human being to ever walk the earth. It was astonishing. (If the U.S. government really wanted to find Osama Bin Laden, they should have enlisted the most rabid Cub fans to search for him during that time period, telling them that Steve and Osama plotted the Cubs playoff collapse. There wouldn’t be any talk of Bin Laden today.)

But seriously, going after a foul ball at a baseball game turned out to be a life-altering moment for Steve Bartman, in a very bad way.

During a segment of the NBC Today Show devoted to the Cigar Guy craze (Wow), the Cigar Guy- now identified as a London investment analyst named Rupesh Shingadia- was quoted as saying that he was “embarrassed and overwhelmed” by all of the attention he was receiving.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Bartman was sitting somewhere saying to himself, “Really? You have no idea…”