Glimpses of Grace: a minor rant

Saturday, February 10, 2007

a minor rant

this happened awhile ago, but i've been behind on my podcasts and just heard about it today (also, i don't watch the news. so what.)

but have you heard this story about the woman who died in sacremento from a water drinking contest on a morning radio show to win a nintendo Wii??

if you haven't heard the story, watch this first:

so, the story develops, ten employees of radio show are fired, lawsuits are looming. blame is placed left and right.

but, i'm sorry? at which point does SOMEONE acknowledge that this woman drank herself to death VOLUNTARILY. she chose to participate in the stupid contest, she even signed a waiver. and yes, sure, the radio show staff should've looked into the risks of excessive water consumption. of course. but more than that SHE should have looked into it herself. i am actually angry about this.

because three innocent children are left without a mother AND without the stupid video game system because, despite drinking herself to death, she quit before winning. i just cannot fathom why she wouldn't have looked into it. PLUS someone called into the radio show and DID warn them about water intoxication and the risks. and SHE KEPT DRINKING. she said she felt sick. AND SHE KEPT DRINKING. all for a video game.

of course i think this is tragic. but i just get so angry about people being stupid, and no one seems to question it. why would she not say to herself, "you know, it would be great to give this game system to my kids, but i've just heard that trying to win it could be fatal. so i'm going to choose to give them a lifetime with a mother instead." i just DON'T get it.

and i hate this trend where it's acceptable to blame everyone else for things people choose. lawsuits against mcdonalds for making people fat. why isn't mcdonalds suing fat people for giving their business a bad name? why is ALL the blame being placed on these radio show employees? why do so many people get away with being stupid?

1 comment:

Unknown said...: I understand where you are coming from, I really do. And, it is tiresome and frustrating that people are not getting it. I thought you might want to know (for the record) that the contestants could not hear the callers when they called into the station so she never heard "at least from any conversations the DJ's were having with each other or callers" about the dangers of water intoxication.

What I can't understand is how she couldn't have known about the dangers from what happened to Matt Carrington in Chico on February 2, 2005, who was killed by water intoxication. It was on the news and or in the papers in Sacramento at least once a week for the past two years while going through the criminal case and then getting Matt's Law passed. And, it was on Dateline, Inside Edition, Court TV, Sundance, and the Today Show to name a few, and there was an 11-page story in Play Boy's October 2006 issue. Personally, I don't know how there could be anyone in Northern California that hasn't heard Matt's story and not know about water intoxication and hazing. www.wemissyoumatt.com; 2:16 PM