Re: Jennifer and Scott Petkov @ terminally ill 7 year old girl: "Can't wait till you
So I'm guessing you feel nothing in regards to the atrocities committed by this woman? At least I think so, seeing as to how thats all you took from Cheeb's post.......
Am I riled up enough to post an overtly aggressive, or even a passive aggressive, message on her social networking site? Hell no. Ignorant morons like the the two mentioned in this story exist everywhere, have existed at probably every point in time of human history, will continue to exist until the extinction of homo sapiens sapiens, and come in a variety of colors, if you will, that would give the hexadecimal palette a run for its money. Although I have never met the young girl to whom these attacks were directed, I am confident enough in her capacity for forgiveness, compassion, and maturity, that I would be willing to stake my life on such a claim. Individuals who go through situations such as hers, especially children, tend to show the rest of the world what it really means to be a good person. More often than not, they handle themselves with a dignity and grace that can only be described as sublime. This is because people who know their time is running out truly understand and appreciate what it means to not only be alive, but to
live While I am certain she experienced justifiable outrage and emotional trauma, I'm quite certain that those feelings were quickly replaced with pity. Pity for individuals who just don't get "it" and live such shallow and meaningless lives. That little girl takes comfort, as do I, in the fact that every morning she wakes up, she has done more to inact a positive change in the world around her in her short live, than those two will ever accomplish even if they live to be 100 years old.
This is why I take exception to the following statements:
I'll be at this all day now =( I joined the hate train. It's just sad. She has girls of her own, and honestly, they should be taken from her. Hate breeds hate, and she's obviously not a good or even decent role model for her children. Someone needs to visit her and beat her near death, that STILL wouldn't be near enough suffering to match what she's done.
Way to take my meaning out of context…I do not "hate" like the saying, I don't spread hate, I don't rejoice in hating others and I most certainly don't want nastiness hurting my or my family, so yeah I may very well get pissed at disgusting human beings. I don't like too much negativity surrounding my day to day and that will be the emphasis when raising my daughter, or any children I have. I discuss on forums, with other people that seem to want to discuss the same topics.
The first quote clearly contradicts the second quote. As does the following:
Someone needs to visit her and beat her near death, that STILL wouldn't be near enough suffering to match what she's done.
Message to Jennifer Petkov;
As a mother, and you being a mother, you ought to be more than just ashamed. You need to live out the rest of YOUR years trying to make good for the EVIL that you've put on that poor family.
You are a waste of oxygen! I feel for your family, having to live and share their lives with a wench such as yourself!
You deserve nothing more than to waste away slowly and painfully. There is no apology that could ever make up for your actions.
SAD EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN.
I have some choice words for you. TWAT, WENCH, WHORE, CUNT, BITCH,
My only hope is when Kathleen breathes her last breath, there's no thoughts of the horror you've caused and just peace and love. Lets pray that your every waking moment is lived in pain for the sheer torment you've put this child through!
First of all, you definitely went out of your way to spread your message. Secondly, your comments clearly indicate that you not only want to "make things right," you want this person to suffer. I can only speak for myself, but I think others would agree that the desire to want someone to suffer is a consistent characteristic of hate. So tell me, how does that make you any better than the Petkovs? Like you, they weren't merely seeking to redress a wrong (not arguing if any wrong had even been done), they wanted this little girl to suffer. Are they slightly different degrees? Absolutely, but they're still two sides of the same coin.
Also, you specifically mention that hate breeds hate and that as a mother, you do not want to emphasize negativity when it comes to raising your child? Please explain to me how responding to negativity, with negativity, is justifiable with this position? I would be a little more understanding if it was your daughter who had been insulted because of the intense emotional investment in the situation, but you don't have a dog in this fight, so to speak.
You also state that you "discuss on forums, with other people that seem to want to discuss the same topics." I'm sorry, but what you did was definitely not confined to mere discussion. Now you're an activate participant in the situation. That being said, if you had stopped with just this:
As a mother, and you being a mother, you ought to be more than just ashamed. You need to live out the rest of YOUR years trying to make good for the EVIL that you've put on that poor family...My only hope is when Kathleen breathes her last breath, there's no thoughts of the horror you've caused and just peace and love.
I would have had absolutely no problem with your statements about not wanting to spread hate or negativity.
Since this post is already quite lenghty, I also want to raise another question to you that carries over from another thread. According to Reya, I assume there is information out that the Scott Petkov will be losing his job over all of this, which I have no problem with; when you're an employee you're part of a team and how you carry yourself in all aspects of your life can, and does, reflect upon the team. That being said, in another thread you argued against employers using information gleaned from social networking sites to make hiring/firing decisions. Now what Scott Petkow engaged in, while socially reprehensible, is also legal and occurred during his "off time." Based on your previous comments in this thread, I can only assume that you also agree that he should lose his job, but I would like to hear how you reconcile your two positions based on these three premises: actions were legal, actions did not occur at the workplace or while "on duty," actions came to light (nationally since I cannot speak for the local news) via the internet.
Now, to close I return to the opening of this post. I do not see what, if anything, can be accomplished by lashing out against the Petkovs. These people obviously do not have very good judgement, nor do they seem to be the type of people who can think beyond themselves. From my experience, these types of people do not generally "learn," if you will, from mass indignation directed towards them. Usually they just become defensive and lash out even more before trying to fade away into obscurity, yet still retaining the same fundamental flaws that caused the original fiasco. From what I understand of the story, the Petkov's apology wasn't forthcoming until this became such a big deal, which definitely calls into question their actual contriteness. I think most psychologists would agree that human beings typically respond much better, with regards to behaviorial change, to positive stimuli. Like you said, hate tends to breed hate. Want to shun them and hold them up as example as how not to act towards people? I can get behind that as well, so long as there a chance for redemption, provided it's a sincere effort on the part of the Petkovs. No, rather than wasting my time on them by stooping to their level, I'd rather tip my cap to the little girl and use her as an example of how to react when ignorant morons try to hurt you with words. Socrates often argued that no good man can ever truly suffer harm from an evil person. That's a sentiment I tend to agree with, and I am pretty sure that if you asked that little girl, she would agree too.