Cause of Death

I promise you, I try not to be one of those slaves to social media like 80% of the world, but every now and then I find myself doing a bit of browsing on some of those Web 2.0 platforms. The funny thing is, a large majority of the times the comments are what make all the doom scrolling worth it.

I came for the comments

I'm sure we have all seen that comment before. Either that or "I came here for this". I don't think it will ever stop amazing me the clever comments some people have on this story or that one. Of course, there is also a flip side of this. For every one good comment, there are likely ten bad ones trying to make a particular subject about politics or some other divisive matter.

Still, it's the comments of a recent post that led me to create this poll and share it here on HIVE. I hope you all participate.

Recently, there was a news story in Michigan about school being closed at a public school district in the central part of the state. This was quite different from the school closing we had yesterday due to snow because in the case of this district, they had found someone deceased in the building.

It was probably a good week before people outside the immediate area (or even inside the immediate area) got any more information about the incident. Which actually isn't that surprising given the fact that they have to investigate and all of that, but it still has the potential to create a lot of anxiety, especially for folks close to the event.

Anyway, I saw a news story yesterday where they finally revealed that the person who had passed away was one of the principals. It seems they may have been found dead in their office. I didn't actually read that part.

This honestly, kind of hit me a bit, because I get to work at about six thirty each morning. I sit in my office and I get ready for the day as well as typing up my post for HIVE. My worker doesn't arrive until 8:00 AM. I have always wondered what would happen if I had a medical emergency closer to 6:30 and someone didn't find me until 8 AM. I'm guessing the outcome probably wouldn't be very good for me.

But I digress.

So without fail, one of the first comments in this article was someone asking how the person passed away. Which honestly, I think is a fair question. I know, I know, I've banged the drum in the past that we don't always get to know all the answers and as casual readers we don't always have the right to all the info like we think we should, but in this case, I honestly think it was a fair question.

Of course, many were quick to scold the person (so easy to do from behind a keyboard) about how a family is grieving and that is such a horrible question to ask.

On the other hand, there were also quite a few people pointing out that first of all, it's probably just basic human nature to know how someone passed away. Additionally, I don't think it's unreasonable for people to wonder what might have happened as they weigh the potential security risk to themselves or their family.

I know if I had kids that attended that particular school I would want to know what might have happened. Is there a threat to my child either current or past? Is there a threat to the community as a whole? It could have been a toxin that would give me second thoughts about sending my kid back to school. I mean the possibilities are endless.

Then again, it could have just been one of those freak things. Sad for sure, and definitely heartbreaking for the family.

So here is the poll question: