Disgust

Every so often, something is said or done that just throws me over the edge. I'm usually a pretty laid-back guy and I don't let things really bother me, but there are the occasional times when I just get really offended and bothered by things I hear, see, or read.

That happened to me today.

There's a police officer in Phoenix, Jason Schechterle, who was involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident several years ago. The car he was driving was rear-ended, and it exploded in flames. Officer Schechterle was burned extremely badly. He managed to survive by some miracle beyond comprehension, but he was burned so badly that he essentially had no face left.

The physical pain and suffering he had to endure just to recover from such a severe burn must have been unreal, but that was probably nothing compared to his having to learn to live with such a horrible facial disfigurement. He has spoken of how his own young children were too scared to look at him at first and how he contemplated his own suicide as a result. It is a real tribute to him, and incredibly inspiring to me, that he managed to overcome all of those issues and has had the courage to not hide and remain cutoff from society, but to make public appearances and bravely go on living his life as normally as possible. He has used his notoriety for good causes, and he deserves a huge amount of respect for all that he has managed to survive.

Instead of respect, though, he's been treated incredibly cruelly. Some grocery store tabloid, The Weekly World News, has named him one of the 10 ugliest people in the world.

Is it really necessary to add to the man's grief by putting him on such a list? Does the money generated by the tabloid's story justify the cruelty that they displayed in publishing such a list? Sometimes when you see junk tabloids like this, it's easy to forget that these may be real, thinking, feeling people. They're not animals and they deserve some basic human dignity. Unfortunately, the people at The Weekly World News apparently don't see things that way.

Comments

[Scott-O-Rama]

I totally agree with you on this one. I was appalled by how low The Weekly World would sink for a story. Have these people no sense of decency?

I also think that it's inspiring how Jason's wife has stood by his side through all of this. They have even had another kid together since the accident. She goes to show that love finds the inner beauty of someone.

[Dianna Donaghey]

You are positively right. I thought they just made that stuff up-- that the people in any of their articles didn't really exist. One can hardly call rags like the Weekly World News "journalism." They should be ashamed of themselves and boycotted by the rest of us (most of whom don't waste time or money on the likes of them in the first place).

[Amanda Schwarts]

I am only a teenager, but I think nothing could be more horrible than this very thing! It is an outrage that a man with so much courage and strength to be in the police deparment to help our state, but to also go through that accident and then THIS! I totally support him and hope he wins his lawsuit!!