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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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Januray 7th, 2008 HERE'S AN IDEA; DON'T TAUNT TIGERS. Carlos Sousa Jr. is not a hero. This whole story we are about to discuss is reminiscent of early in the Iraq war when we were told that an Iraqi lawyer named Mohammed was solely responsible for leading U.S. Marines to the rescue of captured P.O.W. Jessica Lynch. We knew when the story broke how ludicrous it was, and months later the entire tale was completely debunked as sophistry. Months from now, the story of the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack will be confirmed as I lay it out here. I wonder; If I drove with my wife to Harlem or South Central Los Angeles and proceeded to shout taunting racial slurs at a gang of teenage hoodlums assembled on the street and then I “protected” my wife by allowing the hoodlums to kill me while she ran away, would I be hailed as a hero or a provoking, racial idiot who got what he deserved? While that question may not pose a completely fair analogy to what occurred two weeks ago at the San Francisco Zoo, the similarities are hopefully enough to at least cause you a moment of pause. Certainly by now you have heard at least the jist of the story; as the zoo closed late afternoon on Christmas day, a 300 pound tiger escaped its’ enclosure and attacked three young men, killing one of them. Alas, there is so much more to the story. The San Francisco Zoo was built in the 1940s and is clearly still behind the curve. There should absolutely be video equipment throughout the park, enough security and zoo personnel to monitor all of the animal enclosures at all times, and fences that are high enough to keep the animals in, away from the public. Additionally, the SFO zoo lacks a simple public address system and by all accounts on Christmas Day was understaffed and was continuing a many-years-long policy of being horribly mis-managed. I cede all of these points completely. Unlike my Harlem/South Central analogy earlier, there is also, of course, a reasonable expectation on the part of the public that they (the public) will be protected and safe while inside a zoo. I wonder though, why it is that we continue to absolve all people of all personal responsibility in all situations. In this story, we are not talking about a group of 5 year old kindergarten students who, not knowing any better, yelled “Ollie Ollie oxen free,” and spit at and threw shoes at the tiger. Presumably, such students would be supervised and instructed to stop their immature behavior. Hopefully, they would be educated on the fact that a Tiger in a zoo is in his protected home, just as if we were in our living room, and such an animal is to be respected and revered, not teased and taunted. Either way, while the behavior may be understandable and even expected from a 5 year old, it would not and should not be tolerated. Yet, in this story we aren’t talking about 5 year olds. We are talking about 3 boys, aged 17, 19 and 23, all of whom have questionable personal backgrounds on different levels, including a couple of past run-ins with law enforcement, all of whom know better, and all of whom should be held accountable for their actions. While tragic and sad, we need look no further than the parents of the deceased, Carlos Sousa Junior, who at the age of 17 was killed on Christmas Day by Tatiana the tiger, who was also later killed. Carlos’ parents had Christmas dinner on the table, but no idea where Carlos was. I guess I live in a fantasy land, but in my world, a 17 year old who lives at home is expected to be part of the family day, at home, on Christmas. Never the less, I will cede that times are different and apparently, 17 year old kids are allowed to come and go freely on Christmas Day with no parental oversight or knowledge what so ever. I am sure that I am being too harsh. The Sousa parents called around and eventually reached the 19 and 23 year old boys their son was with, both of whom lied to Carlos’ parents and said that he wasn’t with them. We are lead to believe by the Sousa parents that we should take sympathy on them for these horrible lies told to them by these young men. The problem with that, of course, is that we were all 17 once. Unless the 19 and 23 year old brothers had kidnapped Carlos (and there’s no inference of that) we can safely conclude that Carlos was well aware that his parents had called. In fact, he probably told the boys “tell them I’m not here.” Perish the thought, but teenage boys lie; especially when there is mischief to be had. What happened next is still unclear, but we can safely assume that the boys proceeded to taunt the tiger (after a series of conflicting reports involving witnesses and evidence any reasonable person can conclude that these three delinquents threw pine cones and sticks at the tiger and one of them at least kicked and climbed the tiger fence) who leapt out of her cage and attacked the three hoodlums, killing 17 year old Carlos as he tried to distract Tatiana from hurting one of the brothers. It is this brave act of selfless heroism that we are told makes Carlos a (barf) hero. This reminds me of that silly story right before Christmas 2007 of the family of a father and three kids who got lost in the Northern California forest looking for a tree on the day a brutal snow storm arrived. When the whole family was found safely, we were told what a great story it was, rather than being allowed to publicly discuss the stupidity of a father leading three children into the woods as a winter storm blew in. Carlos is not a hero. At best, he is an ignorant bystander amongst a duo of dimwits who lead their younger, more impressionable friend into the very bowels of hell on Christmas night. At worst, Carlos is just another in a long line of punk teenagers who have been taught such little respect for themselves, their families, this country and nature itself, that they view the Earth as their own personal playground. I lean towards the latter, especially given the comments of Carlos’ grieving father shortly after details of the story broke: I don't think my son would do something like taunt animals," said Carlos Sousa sr. "It's unbelievable, but only the evidence can prove that. And right now I can't say much.
I am not claiming that the boy deserved his fate. I am however sickened by the idea that he bears no responsibility. For this father to immediately begin making excuses and equivocating his son’s behavior by stating that “even if his boy was taunting…” speaks volumes about how Carlos was raised. Obviously, the attitude in the Sousa house is that personal responsibility is simply a cliché, not a way of life. At one point, the boy’s father went on the NBC today show and made this stunningly ignorant statement to Matt Lauer: Actually, Mr. Sousa, it would be astoundingly impossible for a tiger to accomplish such a feat, which is why all of us that are animal lovers and others who are animal experts knew from the beginning that there was far more to this story than we were all told. As it turns out, the wall was too low and your son (and/or his friends) were jerks. Additionally, consider the father’s laissez-faire attitude towards his son’s behavior and his friends: In the end, what we have, once again, is a colossal tragedy that could bear out a mountain of lessons for all of us to learn; but that won’t happen. The steamroller has already begun mowing down the zoo and the city and they will bear not just the brunt, but the exclusive burden and blame for this entire incident. Super-attorney and colossal jack-ass Mark Geragos has been hired to defend the remaining living cretins and is doing everything he can to “explain” away the empty vodka bottles and slingshots that have been reported to have been found in the “victims” car. The media and our “blame no one, just blame institutions” society will continue to point the finger at the zoo’s legitimate problems and mistakes and will simultaneously continue to allow the family to be held up as innocent victims. It is this dangerous attitude towards all things that is causing, not preventing more accidents and death in America. If we, as a society, were to once again insist that no one will look out for you but you, incidents like this could be avoided. I mentioned earlier that there is a reasonable expectation on the part of the public that they (the public) will be protected and safe while inside a zoo. That is also true of the public’s view towards freeways, stores and office buildings. It’s one thing when a person is innocently walking into work and is shot by a crazed lunatic, or is walking through the zoo and is leapt onto, unprovoked by a man-eating bear. It’s another thing entirely when that same person is shouting taunts at the gun toting lunatic, or throwing pinecones and sticks at the bear…or, in this case a tiger. There’s an old expression meant to warn people against provoking dangerous animals that simply says “don’t poke the bear.” The presence of a zoo and fences doesn’t change the intelligence of this mantra or the responsibility the three boys at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas day bear (or, in this case, tiger).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/28/MN7RU5I8P.DTL&tsp=1
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