T.O. Controversy Should Open Up Our Hearts and Minds
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by user Chicondor
"To be or not to be," that is the question. Of course the Bard recognized the soul-tearing nature of suicide and explored it eloquently. I'm not quite sure if T.O.'s life has reached Shakespearean proportions but it's clear that the sports media will mishandle both the reporting and commentary attached to this event. We may never know the facts behind T.O.'s taking of pills, but it's safe to say that suicide attempts are reflective of a morbid state of mind and oftentimes trump the rewards of material success. I'm put off by people who say suicide is a selfish act- what is more self-nullifying than suicide? Frankly, given the terrible things that can happen to people through unwarranted circumstance: war, famine, freakish deaths of loved ones, etc. ("the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune") combined with the prevalence of depression, that there is not a higher quotient of suicides. The human spirit- sometimes unallied to rationality- is simply life-affirming. As far as the T.O. story is concerned, I would suggest that people switch off the combative yakkers on ESPN or close the sports section of the newspaper and give a call to a loved one who may very well be in distress without our knowing it.
Date
Thu 09/28/06, 7:24 am EST
