In Defense of the Two Funeral Workers Who Lost Their Job Because of This Picture
On a normal day, my mind is slower than most; on a day when I’ve been battling the flu, it’s slower than an insurance company filing a death claim. Despite my molasses mind, I want to weigh in a little deeper on this situation where the two funeral workers were fired for stopping at a Dunkin Donuts (picture below)
I’ve already given my commentary on why I think their actions were a mistake (read HERE for the story and my commentary); but, I’m also dismayed at how flippantly people revel in the firing of these two funeral workers.
To give more context and bring this closer to home, here’s a response from one of the men who was fired and then I’ll provide some more commentary:
When it comes to photos, such as the one above, the internet loves to create a fury with words such as “disrespect” and “dishonor” and “unprofessional.”
The internet doesn’t look for facts, it looks to be judge and jury.
It doesn’t look for context, it looks for strawmen that it can self-righteously and self satisfyingly destroy.
And it doesn’t have patience, it has projected anger and disapproval that come down like hammer.
After all, don’t we all find it somewhat satisfying to think we can affect the real world behind the comfort and safety of a computer screen?
When I’m writing a self-righteous remark on the internet (like I am now?), I don’t have to confront that person to their face. I just type and click. The accountability of community and proximity is destroyed on the world wide web so that some random guy walking out of Dunkin Donuts can snap a photo with his cell phone and someone from the other side of the county can weight in without any fear of personal discomfort, costing these two men their jobs.
And honestly, I think when something like this hits the internet, it’s always dangerous to base a “firing” entirely on the reaction by the world wide web. The internet likes to enforce pressure, but its really bad at giving perspective.
The internet also forgets very quickly. In some sense, it’s like the toddler who fusses for a toy only to forget why it was fussing a few minutes later. How quickly we forget about “The Dress” or “Alex from Target”. And how quickly our righteous indignation about respect and honor and professionalism move from one topic to the next in short order. Yesterday, funeral directors and veterans were in an uproar about said photo, tomorrow it will be something else.
Reactions from the internet are rarely long-time, while lives and jobs are. Again, it’s dangerous to use the reactions of the internet as a basis of something that has so much import.
And while there may be other reasons for the firing of these two funeral workers, if the above picture is the ONLY reason, perhaps patience and perspective would have been a better approach.
