Although we love to view the world in absolutes, things are seldom black and white. Heroes have skeletons in their closets and assholes secretly donate money to the ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLachlan. Okay, maybe not.
But the point is that the world is a complex place, full of moral ambiguity, double standards and mixed feelings.
So we have taken the task upon ourselves to bring back the epic binary of “good” versus “bad,” “right” versus “wrong,” and “virtuous” versus “evil.”
We humbly present you: Asshole and Hero of the week.
Asshole: Jaylen Fryberg
Via: Westsidestory
On Friday, a fifteen-year-old shooter opened fired at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington, and his name is Jaylen Fryberg. He shot his friends in the back, killing two of them, before turning the gun on himself.
However, shooting his friends in the back isn’t the reason he’s being awarded Asshole of the Week. No, his crime goes beyond a random shooting. On Monday, it was revealed that he lured his friends to the lunch table where the shooting occurred via text messages. This attack was pointed. It was planned. It was pre-meditated.
In addition to the texts, Fryberg also sent a selfie of himself holding a gun to his girlfriend before the attack began. A warning of sorts?
The news is making Jaylen out to be some sort of a victim himself because no one can understand how he, the newly elected homecoming prince, could brandish a weapon at school. While it’s true that he may have been suffering in silence, the real victims are the kids he lured and murdered in cold blood.
Hero: The group of Dallas airport bystanders
Via: NYdailynews
On Thursday, a man began yelling homophobic slurs at another man in the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport just because that man was wearing a pink shirt. People in the airport didn’t stand idly by and watch as this man tried to beat the man in the pink shirt.
Bystanders took it upon themselves to tackle the man yelling anti-gay sentiments and hold him down until police could come and arrest him. There is a video circulating the internet of the event in question, and you can see that once the drunken asshole begins to attack the man whose only crime was wearing a pink shirt in the vicinity of this guy, a man in a cowboy hat steps in to restrain him.
This event is significant for two reasons. The first is because it shows that bystanders are willing to step in when they see injustice occurring. We don’t hear about those times very often. We usually only hear about people getting up in arms after there has been a prejudicial attack.
The second reason it is significant is that it happened in Texas, arguably one of the country’s most conservative states. It is a huge step forward knowing that in Texas people were willing to stand up for what is right, regardless of what they personally believe.
I hope we can all take that into our lives this week, as we remember the heroes of the Dallas airport.
Featured photo courtesy of: Ksmleadership
