The woman was scared by what she'd wrought and so she ran. It's a human trait, perhaps not our most noble trait, but human and basic nonetheless. The media firestorm that erupted in her wake is tragic and banal and a gross misuse of the technology. Cable Media outlets have taken Pegasus, shackled the mighty Pegasus to a plow, and then uses the rig to salt fertile fields. Is anyone else insulted by the continuous coverage of this story? When did being human become scornworthy?

I've had my moments of doubt and pain. I had a tough time of it in 2nd Grade. One normal school day I had a panic attack. As a result, I got up out of my seat, walked past Mrs. Pincumbe, and left the school. We lived @ 15 miles from school and I was headed home. I walked past a few Oldsmobile plants, past a public school, and was halfway home before I was intercepted by my mother.

Mom was pissed. She pulled the car over to the side of busy Saginaw Highway. The hills of Waverly Golf Course were just off the shoulder. During better times, we'd take our sleds to Waverly in winter. We had a riot shooting down and then trying to climb up the icy, snowy hills. Those better times were an icy counterpoint to what happened next.

Mom hopped from the car, pull down my pants, and spanked my ass right there in public. Traffic passed and MJ's Irish temper flared. There was no dicussion of what happened. That didn't happen in the 50s. Recrimination came first. At home, I was sequestered in my sister's room for the remainder of the day--the thinking was that if I was sequestered in my room I would have less time with my own thoughts. The trouble was I didn't have any thoughts. I was just scared, which festered into an inner anger.

Later, my dad and I had a conversation about what being a man meant. In this case it meant doing things one would rather not do, especially if they were unpleasant or treacherous--his WWII experienced figured here.

The fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in 1958 freaked me out. 92 kids and three nun died in the burning school. It added a heavy weight that I carried deep in my inner pit. I was watching the John Cameron Swayze news with my dad when the story came on. JCS told of a parochial school fire in Chicago. I asked my dad what a parochial school was. "A Catholic School," he said. www.olafire.com willl take you back to that horrible, sad, and tragic day. Take a look at the kids who died that day. They look like a lot of kids I knew. I was terrified I would be the next.

Anyway, the bright side for me is that there weren't any cable news stations, or news helicopters, or 24 hour newscast looking to exploit my joust with reality. My story was anonymous and personal. The way it should be. Too bad for the woman in GA. Here's hoping there's comfort in your future.