Let's Get Vaguely Serious

Why is it that, every single time there's a major, publicised tragedy, people seem to decide that it is their moral duty to start a "commemorative" chain e-mail/instant message, or put an X in front of a screen-name? The latter is, I suppose, not so bad, but doesn't it seem more than a little pointless? Does it not suggest that the "wearer" of the X is trying mainly to demonstrate that they're a caring, wonderful person without ever having to do anything for another human being? Perhaps I'm just missing something screamingly obvious, but I can't think what on Earth it would be.

The chain messages, however, really do grate. Sending a pre-written sentence to everyone you know does not, in my mind, constitute a good way to mark s tragic event. Particularly as they often contain a statement to the effect of "If you don't pass this on, you obviously don't care." How anyone can receive a message like that and not immediately want to punch the sender in the face I really cannot understand. It's like someone shaking you vigourously without warning and demanding that you do the same to everyone you know, and then branding you a heartless, hate-filled fiend when you refuse.

Now, I realise that this sort of thing's significance pales in comparison to the tragedies that they respond to, but this is something that the average person can do something about. Beyond not planting bombs and not murdering people, there's not a lot you, personally, can do in your everyday life to sort the world out, and you don't need to compensate for that with little crosses or irritating messages or by vigourously shaking people in the street. So please, spare people a lot of pointless annoyance and stop. And just in case I should ever die in some pointless and tragic way, and become the focus of media attention for it, I implore each and every one of you to do all you can to ensure that nobody starts anything like this for me. However I leave this world, I don't want to be remembered as a bloody chain letter, and I very much doubt that anyone else does.