Distaste for the Illogical

A recent phenomenon in the news in my locale has been centered around the actions of the man deemed the “CraigsList Killer.”

Phil Markov, a 22-year old BU medical student, had presumably made his time responding to Craig’s List ads about massages. He is suspected to have been responsible for the deaths of two women advertising similar services, one of which made her living in the middle of Copley Plaza.

Despite the premise of this case being perfect for a made-for-TV drama, I’m mildly perturbed with the way this all must have happened. I can only assume that the mentality of the assailant (whether it turns out to be Markov or not) was some isolated yet conniving genius entity who had some compelling motive to do what he did. I can only assume that the only way for someone thinking as he did to deal with that situation was to put two lethal slugs into his victim’s chest–for one predetermined reason.

Until that reason is uncovered, this man’s motives will remain a mystery.

Still adamantly feeling like safety isn’t a direct concern in my neighborhood, I subsequently turn to the rational side of the argument. Is Craig’sList a decent, respectable, or even safe way to post anything? I once responded to a Craig’sList casting call looking for people for a television show.

I remember traveling to Boston to make the casting call, but found nothing there. Faneuil Hall and the Boston Market area contained little but the run of the mill for any given weekday, with magicians and street acts boasting all the place had to offer. Above all, there was no sign of any casting call for the show I was looking for.

Craig’sList, I discovered,  was the ultimate crapshoot. At the time, I didn’t quite realize that there was a chance that I was taking my own life into my hands. Perhaps we would all do well to screen ourselves in this manner before utilizing the limitless interpersonal potential to be had on the great anonymous internet.

After all–I could have been shot. Twice. In the torso.

And this blog would never have happened.

People have often asked me why I don’t have a Twitter account. Despite the fact that I’ve had no need to create one (unlike my need for facebook, which sprung up during college when I was too cheap to buy books), there are also some remarkably un-compelling reasons such as how tech-savvy the rest of the world has become.

It’s no secret that the technological revolution has long since been upon us. What many people often struggle with is the idea that anyone and EVERYONE can be listening to what you have to say. It’s much like the bottleneck effect when listening to conversations in a crowded room. You could say something embarassing out loud and nobody might hear it, or through the din, you could say something semi-privately and through some perverse stroke of bad luck, it may fall solely on the wrong person’s ears.

It’s because of this that I secretly suspect that I don’t have a well-paying job. Not that I’m tempting fate by criticizing the fact that I am fortunate enough to work two different low-paying jobs to support my self and occasionally treat myself to Taco Bell, but my resume isn’t exactly lacking. I have six different blogs, which represent thoughtful and eccentric deviations of my various writer’s personalities. I think the 30+ companies I applied to may have stumbled across one or two of my little wells of online knowledge and deemed their own companies perfectly fine without another employee who needs mental counseling.

And then there are the kinds of people who use the internet as a means to exact acts of cruelty. It’s easy to hide behind a modem and leave hurtful or racist comments on youtube, it’s another step in the wrong direction when people create fake profiles on MySpace which ultimately cause a 13-year-old girl to kill herself.

In our generation, it’s seeming more and more like everything we shout from the mountaintops has some degree of reprecussion. I don’t really need to add to that through my own narcissism. Even at my Alma Mater, people involved with riots and inappropriate behavior were intelligently using facebook and youtube to show everyone how rowdy they could be. Surprisingly enough, this was the first place that state police looked in order to level legal charges.

Be careful. The people you care about will listen to how your day went, or what you think of other people or employers–but it’s not necessarilly a public matter.

Seeing as I often wonder about the health of (any member of) the human race, I often find myself completely hooked when stumbling across the affectations of healthy news articles.

You’re all fat.

If you’ve read that and are angry, you’ll effectively keep reading about an article I’ve found on prominent search engines. Illogically, you all tend to see certain news articles and studies and listen intently to what they say. In this blog, we’ll debunk their BS claims.

Arthritis -

http://arthritis.org is a bullshit website where people with arthritis can  double click to feel especially horrible about their own states of living. My dad has been playing guitar for several years, and often conveniently uses his “arthritic fingers” as the main reason why he lacks the knowledge to play any songs not written by the Beatles.

Obesity -

In the genius website located at http://obesity.org, childhood obesity problems are blamed on “behavioral issues in youth.” …Like those founded in eating too much. I know, three year old Maury Povich guest stars are not to blame, but suffer anyway.

Old Age -

Fooled you. When someone dies, people of any age will find it difficult to understand the logistics. We all must remember Mr. Hooper, the store owner on Sesame Street-the kindly old man with a few stories to tell.

In all honesty, death is the ultimate consequence for those who believe in nothing further. Beyond that, humaity’s collective lack of health is a blatant sadness which indicates that we no longer truly take care of ourselves.

The choice seems relatively easy-

Take care.