Friday, May 21, 2021

Exaggerations, Mistruths, and Lies.

    What's the saying; "If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you."  All the world loves a good story and no one more than the media. Here is the scenario:

    A young girl is the victim, undoubtedly true. She fought for her life and won. That is the hard truth. She had  severe odds to overcome. The stop where she waited for her schoolbus positioned her almost as bait in a trap, surrounded by roads. She was wary enough to have previously reported a suspicious driver and vehicle both to her family and to the school. But still she was waiting in the same spot all alone. No one seems to have taken her concerns seriously. Here she sits all by herself.

  A would-be kidnapper, most probably the same as she'd earlier reported, runs from his car and grabs her, as she is playing with blue slime. She struggles against him. He drops her and runs back to his car and takes off. He is quite quickly located and arrested. The  press reports the suspect has blue goo on his arm.  The girl is lauded as a hero, deservedly so. But then, the child's mind latches onto the idea that she deliberately smeared the blue stuff on him, as a clue. She's a kid, and underwent a traumatic experience. More power to her and whatever helps her cope. When asked, she says she got the idea from a popular crime show. So instant celebrity ensues. An appearance on the Ellen Show seems likely. I hope she enjoys her time in the limelight, but more importantly, I hope her mother will exercise more oversight in the future.

   Watching the video of the attempted abduction, I saw her fight him off and run for her life.  I doubt if she even had time to assess the situation and try to mark him for future identification. Her instincts prompted her to do the fight and flight strategies, and both worked well for her. The child can't be held responsible for rethinking and elaborating on what will for her be a lifelong memory. The media does love a good story, for  a brief time.

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