Fool's Errand

This is a Yellow Trumpet Bush in my neighbor's yard. It is a naturally occuring desert plant that is used in landscaping because it tolerates hot temperatures and dry conditions. It produces yellow flowers from May through October and like many desert plants produces seed pods that it drops, to be spread by animals, birds and the wind. The flowers are pollinated by carpenter bees and Sonoran bumble bees, both large bee species. (click to enlarge) On to the less sane stuff. I picked an argument with a member of our local media and his boss over their coverage of a tragedy this past week in our fair city. It is possible that I am wrong, its just not very possible. You judge for yourself. This past week a 50 year-old convenience store clerk was working the graveyard shift alone when 3 young punks came in, took some cases of beer and left without paying. The clerk followed them outside and they shot and killed him. These three proved once more that crime doesn't pay mostly because the criminals are just really stupid. If stupidity was an Olympic event, these jackasses would be gold medalists. They stole beer from a convenience store in full view of the security cameras and then shot the poor clerk. It took one day for the cops to ID them and about another two days to apprehend them. Wanton murderers and world-class idiots. Where the argument comes in is in the TV coverage of the aftermath of the shooting. The victim left behind both a wife and an ex-wife plus some kids, including a 9 year-old. The wives, evidently close friends, invited the TV people into their home to share their memories of the victim, or something. The actual living arragement remains murky. What was broadcast on TV, however, was a scene of the two distraught women, sprawled on the floor in front of a homemade shrine, wailing uncontrollably. Not sobbing mind you, but full on shrieks and wails of grief so pronounced that it made me feel embarrassed to be watching. In the mean time our intrepid reporter voiced over the wails to tell us what was going on. The crux of the piece seems to be that the victim left behind some very sad people. Thanks for letting me know. I found it to be exploitive and insensitive and I fired off an email to the station brass telling them so. I suggested that the story was in poor taste. That's the part that seemed to piss them off. In reply, both the reporter and his boss condesendingly told me that the family asked them to come to the house and had no problem with how they looked on camera. So what? We don't have the right to be entertained by the travails of others. Families in the midst of tragedies often lose perspective and do things they later regret. I expect the news people to use a little judgment, rather than trying to one-up the other stations. Unfortunately, I am frequently disappointed. As the lovely Mrs. Sneed pointed out, Peg Bundy's attire was always tacky and in bad taste, but you could never convince her of that. Same thing. Merle. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong and sometimes just full of it. Tag: Daily Life Personal Finance Humor