Common sense is on the brink of extinction

[nymphadora]

So was his head definitely kicked off? That must have hurt some guy's foot pretty bad. If it was enough to decapitate the kid would it break the guys leg?

Why didn't he move out of the way of the rollercoaster? He must've seen and heard it coming....

[canad asa panzy]

Its definate that NOBODY deserves to die. Death is such a strong word I even dont use is that much. For me saying "I hope you die" is worse than saying "I hate you"

Its obvious that either the kid was vision impaired and not only lost his hat but his glasses while on the ride, or its true that he had a lack of common sense. If you see a sign saying "staff only" why would you hop over a large fence knowing that if you got hit by this high speed roller coaster, resulting in instant death? I feel more sorry for the parents and especially the riders because they had to endure the horror of watching a person get his head cut off by their own feet? That would be on the degree of traumatizing. I dont want to sound cruel, but i feel little sympathy for the kid. He shouldnt have died that way, but he chose to put his life in great danger, knowing there would be a great chance he would die if he got hit by the ride.

[Lil' Cheney]

Dude, I don't think I could have said it any better! Thats exactly what I was trying to say, and you went ahead and made it readable! *karmas*

[Power]

That guy should have simply took the time to tell the ride ops ( you don't have to wait in line) that he lost an object on the ride and knows where it landed. A few minutes of time would have saved his life rather than commit something foolish as this. All they would do is shut down the ride, get the item to the guy, and resume the day and everyone is happy.

Signs are posted for a reason, to warn people of danger. Ignore it and you face the consequences. Come on now, the sign blatantly warned the guy of the impending danger, why ignore it? Especially when there are several thousand pound machines whizzing by you at 50 mph? They can't see you in time to put on the brakes now can they?

Sometimes risks are not worth it, just for the mere fact of trying to save time. Laziness can cost you dearly in some instances. Ignorance is no excuse of the law.

You may get away running a stop sign, but next time you will not be so lucky.

[asian malaysian]

*Karma* for the last couple of lines of your post, Power! Its comforting to think that no one you know would ever do anything as extremely dangerous and silly as this kid but cutting everyday rules, running traffic lights, or having one drink too many before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle are all common examples of silly behaviour carried out by otherwise intelligent adults everyday. If youre lucky, nothing happens. If youre not, you might get killed or worse yet kill someone else.

[xtal]

I feel the kid deserves a Darwin Award. Make a stupid descision and natural selection will take you out. It is simple as that really. A bit insensetive but hey its the truth.

[spirityue]

Seeing as I am a parent, yes, I definately have sympathy for this boys parents. Losing a child is an immeasurable, disconcerting thing to have happen. As for the boy himself though, I have to say that I do not really feel sorry for him at all. He was definately old enough to know better, but still thought he could basically cheat death. Well that didn't happen now did it? Yes, that may seem very callus and cold hearted, but c'mon, give me a break! Was that hat truly worth the outcome? I think not.

As for his parents trying to sue the park, I also think that is somewhat mentally challenged as well. Yes, I feel sorry for their loss, especially with it being so tragic and graphic, but you might as well try suing car companies then when crashes take place.

Jul 2, 2008 14:50:27 GMT -5 Lil' Cheney said:

If anybody has seen that movie, The Outsiders, you'd know that watchign somboy die realy f**ks you up in the head.

As for this comment, I'd just like to add my two cents.
I, personally have watched many people die, being a nurse for many years, and it hasn't messed with my head what so ever. Although I must admit that it does take a specific kind of mentality to be able to deal with it on a daily basis. You must be able to seperate yourself, and realize that it is one of the most common things in the world to happen. Second only to birth...

[spiritmage234]

^Well sure. Seeing somebody die naturally of a disease is one thing. Or, even dying from a gunshot.

Seeing somebody getting decapitated is completely different...

[uverworldluv]

Yes, what this kid did was very irrational and not properly thought through, but I feel sorry for him. All he wanted was his hat, and he ended up losing his life instead.

Now I know that a lot of people feel like he was an idiot because there were signs and warnings and fences, but more than likely he thought that nothing bad was going to happen to him. I've heard a lot of horror stories about rape, murder, horrible accidents, etc. and thought that there's no way any of that can happen to me, and he was probably in that same mindset. It's terrible that he had to die in such a horrible way, but I think a lesson can be learned from this.

I have the deepest sympathy for his family and friends. I can't imagine what they must be going through.

And I don't think that sueing the park will do any good. They had all of the necessary precautions and, unfortunately, the teen didn't follow them.

[spirityue]

Very true SM, although I've come close. I've never seen a full decapitation, but I've seen partial ones from motorcycle accidents and self inflicted gunshots. Either way, not pretty at all.

[Lil' Cheney]

A hat is replaceable, a head is not. Power brought up a very good point... ask the operators to either let him get his hat the next time the ride is turned off, or have them retrieve it and ship it to him at the end of the park's day. It's not like it's going anywhere.

What would be very, not funny, but just... can't find the words, is if they don't find a hat at all, and a hat had nothing to do with it!

How do they know what his reasons were anyway? Did they ask the corpse?

[hailstorm]

While I do feel sympathy for his family and a little for what happened, in a way, he deserved it. We are responsible for our actions, with great power and choice comes great responsibility. He obviously didn't consider that responsibility and ended up killing himself. He did not think his decision through and made a huge mistake.

As for suing Six Flags, that's more of a cry from the parents who have been confused by the event. They're trying to find some form of compensation for something that they could not fix themselves.

[goten0040]

Jul 3, 2008 14:13:39 GMT -5 Lil' Cheney said:

How do they know what his reasons were anyway? Did they ask the corpse?

I'm sure they either just assumed that was what he was doing, or he had witness friends who knew his reasonings (if you could call them that.) And if he had friends with him, every single one of them should have stopped him. That's just not right.

And @ Power: You said exactly what I feel.

[~*Tea Sage*~]

I have to concur about how seeing people die messes you up. I've actually seen several people die in accidents, some of them gruesome, one of them my friends relative. But, rather than going insane, I actually appreciated life more, and I'll make sure I'll put my life to good before it end. I think the reason why its not emotionally painful for me is because I don't have bound with them, but still people are people.

As for the kid, I don't think we should call him names. How would you feel if someone spit on your grave, by calling him 'stupid' or 'mentally challenged'. I mean its bad enough that he had to die, no need to add injury to insult, whether its true or not. Anyways we don't know the full story, because we weren't there.

And yes there were signs on the fences, but hey its a long fence if its going to cover the whole circumference of rollercoaster, I don't think the amusement park is going to plaster every inch of the fence with warning signs, maybe the kid climbed over the fence where there were no signs. That and do we even know the mental condition of this kid, for all we know he may of had a disability.

[spiritmage234]

I get what you are feeling Storyteller, though, I wouldn't spit on the grave of someone who was genuinely mentally challenged person, which this kid wasn't. And who knows: he was probably an AP student (even though that really doesn't mean anything nowadays).
He was just... really stupid in this situation. And it's really hard to pass by that fact and just simply mourn for him..
Believe me. I knew a ton of AP kids who are capable of this kind of idiocy.
I take into consideration that the park authorities evenly spaced out the warning signs throughout the perimeter/circumference, so, he had to have passed a few of them. Plus - and there's that common sense again - wouldn't two fences tell you that you probably shouldn't cross it, with a ton of machinery whizzing around at a high speed on the other side, just like how Power said?
I kinda like to compare this landscape with that of a electrical circuitry board or something like that (I don't know the proper name. But have you ever passed by those areas with a whole lot of electrical wiring and towers?). One of these things is located by a grocery store that we shop at, so there are a lot of people around it (just like at an amusement park). But, there are signs around it saying "Danger: High Voltage". There's a wall around it now, but there use to be a chain link fence in its place. So, the simple sign and a fence/wall tells you that you shouldn't be crossing the line, and then there's the physical manifestation of that warning.....: a load of crisscrossing livewires and transformers.
Do you really want to venture in that frontier?
I'd also like to think that if this kid had any mental conditioning, he would be supervised all the time. By an adult.

Bleh. Maybe after this, the park will put barbed wire on the fences.

'Course with America's stupidity and greed, the next dimwitted kid who tries to hop this fence will get his arm ripped open on the barbed wiring, and the kid's parents will try to sue the park for that.

"My child's arm was ripped open when he/she tried to hop a fence that bordered restricted area! Gimme money!"