Death of Crystal Heart

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Evisse

I'm sorry, but I find this very funny...

I have a pretty broad sense of humour but I fail to see any humour in this situation. Indeed I personally find what has been done here to be cruel and callous. To make people think that someone is dead, particularly someone so young, and that their family is grieving not a nice thing to do and is not something either to feel proud of or to be encouraged. It upsets people unnecessarily and has the capacity to make people foolish for having believed it. Although, as far as I am concerned, there is no shame in having fallen for this silly trick. There are few who would not have done.

I wouldn't mind if this sham had at least been clever. But there is no skill in duping people into believing that someone is dead, particularly on the internet where no acting skills are required - simply a suitably worded message. You would have to be pretty hard-nosed and cynical not to have believed it. So where's the cleverness in that?

Ultimately, all it has done is caused unnecessary distress and gained Crystal Heart some praise. Whether it is deserved or not, I do not know. But, whether or not she is innocent in the affair, the circumstances in which this praise has been gained are hardly respectable.

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

A side observation.... A good lesson to take away from all this is the need to show caution when dealing with the net and people you meet through the net. What appears to be true about an individual, what is said in the context of a website, may or may not be reality.

I would endorse Child's comments here. To my mind, this lesson is the only valuable thing that we can draw from this sorry affair.