Wednesday, October 10, 2007

on my radar: hindsight

How many New Yorkers would give me a hug if I was screaming at them on Broadway? Would anybody, anywhere, bother to give me anything but the finger or tell me to shut up or just call the cops? As tragic as the death of Carol Anne Gotbaum was, I find it sad that her husband has chosen to say all she needed was "some tenderness, a hug instead of handcuffs." You are from New York buddy- who in their right mind is going to give someone the time of day, better yet a hug, when they are acting all Anne Heche circa 2001? Sure it's a simple cure, but it ain't going to happen. Hell, A-Rod can't catch a break, why would she?

Hindsight says that "tenderness" would have been the right panacea, but if she went all postal and stabbed, bit, or otherwise attacked anyone who approached her, who'd be the fool? And in this day and age, those behaviors are about as likely to happen as a celebrity's going to rehab or jail.

Think what her agitated mental state was at the time of the incident...ponies coming at her from the sky, not a drink for days, no plane ride for her....not the person I'd think to say, "Can I give you a squeeze?" without her treating me to a "Monster's Ball" dance with bruises.

Yes, her death, while in custody at the Phoenix Airport, is quite bizarre and tragic, but to wish it away with trips to Fantasy land wont make things better and only create a false sense of blame and delay the healing.

2 comments:

Radioactive Tori said...

It is impossible for me to find anything about this that is not slanted in either direction. Either the story is about how awful the police were, and how so many lies were told and how she must ahve been tasered even though they deny it, or it is about how she was irate and it was all her fault. The stories don't even seem like they are the same situation since they are slanted so opposite of each other! It is sad that she died, either way though.

EF said...

In this day and age and with the omnipresent videos and cameras, it's amazing that something like this can be, to your point, still so unclear....even with so many witnesses present!