There are two Aussie DJ's at the moment who wish they had seen this meme.
I have a fabulous sense of humour. After growing up on a farm with two brothers, hanging out with military people for 20 years and having a philosophy of "I can laugh at most things given time" I am pretty fucking horrified at the moment. And before the "but they didn't mean for the nurse to kill herself" people jump on the band wagon, let me explain my horror.
Pranks are never harmless. Pranks by their very nature seek to trigger a laugh by humiliation, demeaning or bullying someone. Most often these are played on a defenceless or gullible person. They are never in good taste, always a form of deliberate contempt for a fellow person or group of people. When a person with a low-grade level of humour uses public radio or any other media to prank someone, the level of humilation, demeaning or bullying increases exponentially. When these low-grade level of humour radio and TV morons are encouraged by their employers, tells us that there is something wrong with our society that endorses humiliation, demeaning and bullying another person.
I don't for a millisecond think that those two presenters envisioned that an UK Indian descent nurse would commit suicide due to her deep shame and humiliation over being the subject of a prank. But if you draw a line even a idjit can easily see where this prank was always going to backfire. Nurse breaches security protocol...publically exposed...hospital humilated...nurse disciplined or sacked...nurse applies for a new job...referee checked or google searched...name comes up as being the nurse who breached a royal member's privacy...nurse unable to gain suitable employment easily. Add to this her ethnicity...and I am not even going to hazard a comment about this, I am not an expert...but if she was from a culture that does not understand satire, harbours deep shame over a public faux pax and you add another layer of HOLY SHIT over the top of it.
I am so sad for that nurse and her family. Chaos and Mayhem are the same age as her kids and I cannot imagine the level of their grief. As an Australian, a mother and a human being, I am so sorry.
I am sorry that there is a level of society who think that public humilation is funny...then they wonder why little Johnny is being bullied at school...could it have been with a prank...
I am sorry that there are two presenters who are being cossetted after the carnage, rather than being taught that public humilation is never funny....I think they have a larger understanding of that now.
I am sorry that there is a section of society that feels that people need to harden up and get a sense of humour. I hope that one day you realise how painful public humilation is and that you never feel the pain that greatly that you are compelled to take your own life.
I am sorry that there is a no longer a mentality of "good behaviour in the first place is better than big flowery apologies afterwards."
I am sorry that that UK nurse will not see those kids of hers grow into great adults...and I am sorry that she felt the need to take her own life away from them.
