I try to. I'm an optimist when it comes to people. But, more and more, I'm losing faith. People are dicks. People are assholes. People are idiots.
See, I was reading about this poor girl, Louise Ogborn. She's a young lady who, while 18 and working at a McDonald's, had her life totally turned upside down. Somebody had called the Asst. Manager, pretending to be a cop, and ordered that Louise be confined, as she had stolen a customer's purse. She was then strip searched. Later, the Asst. Manager's boyfriend joined in the interrogation (while Louise was only wearing a small apron), and the interrogation got worse. Neither the Asst. Manager nor her boyfriend bothered to check on the validity of the cop's identity (turns out, he wasn't a cop. go figure!). And poor Louise went along with everything, because she thought she was in trouble with the police, even though she knew she had done nothing wrong.
They ended up catching a guy who they thought made the calls (and it sure seems like they had enough to convict him, but I wasn't there, so I don't know for sure), but he was found not guilty. The Asst. Manager was found guilty of unlawful imprisonment and only got probation. The (now former) boyfriend pleaded guilty to sexual abuse, sexual misconduct, and unlawful imprisonment. And, currently, Louise Ogborn is suing McDonald's for $200 million.
This is where my lack of faith in people comes in.
You see, I'm not sure whether Louise should get the $200 mil from McDonald's. Really, it's not their fault; it's the fault of the Asst. Manager and the boyfriend (and of course, the perpetrator). But since it happened on company time in a company room, I see McDonald's a liable in this situation. OK, I guess I think that she should get the $200 million. But, I would understand if she didn't get it all.
Now, I read some of the readers' comments. Holy fuck, there are some horrible, horrible people out there.
"this story is rediculous. That girl shouldnt get a penny from mcdonalds. Its not their fault she is a moron."
"PLus, who's to say this girl didn't set this up for herself?"
"If you believe this girl, then you need to send me money. I am a victim too. A CIA officer is forcing me to type this right now. Send me money or it could be your last day on earth. About $200million dollars sounds nice. Thanks for understanding"
Whatever happened to sympathy and compassion? Nevermind that oftentimes, people do things they wouldn't normally do, when threatened by authority figures (in this case, police and management). Are the people who feel bad for this poor girl and what she went through... are we the minority?
That, in itself, is sad.
Posted by mikey at 05:48 PM. Filed under: My take... •
