About 11 p.m. Sept. 12, a car struck Neil Alan Smith and threw him off his bicycle on Fourth Street N. The car didn't stop.
Mr. Smith, who was pedaling home from his job as a dishwasher at the Crab Shack, struck his head on a light post.
He was taken to Bayfront Medical Center. He died there six days later. He was 48.Police have not located the hit-and-run driver.
Shortly after the St. Petersburg Times announced Mr. Smith's death on its website, a reader posted a comment stating the following: A man who is working as a dishwasher at the Crab Shack at the age of 48 is surely better off dead.
Web editors removed the comment, deeming it an offensive and insensitive insult to a dead man's friends and family. Though hardly unusual — check out the comments beneath stories about any recent tragedy — this one spurred the Times to make Mr. Smith the subject of this story, as a reminder that every life matters.
Read the full obituary . It's touching.
I'm often shocked by the insensitive and ignorant comments left by readers of news stories online. Who knew there were so many idiots that can actually read? Frequently I feel embarrassed by my "fellow" Canadians in their need to spew vitriol, their just plain meanness. I am training myself not to read comments following news stories, as it's too disheartening. I lose faith in the good sense of my neighbours.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the saddest things I've ever read.
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