Memorial Day weekend in Miami, FL will always bring out the zany and cooky into the warm sunshine and playful beaches. Altercations are not unheard of during this time. This weekend has perfected the recipe for trouble– 3 parts party, 2 parts sexual urges and 1 part overpopulation, stir and be generous with the liquor— but since when did the general public decide it would be okay to dismiss such a grandiose mishap and chalk it up to a good ol’ zombie joke?
If you haven’t yet heard of the unfortunate event that took place on the MacArthur Causeway over the weekend then you probably live under a rock. Lucky for you, I’ll give you a cliff notes version, okay hold on this will be fast. Ready, set… Go!
Rudy Eugene, allegedly ingested a designer drug that goes by the name of “Bath Salts,” wanders around Miami and finds himself on the Causeway and attacks Ronald Poppo, a homeless man sitting on a bench. Eugene in a disoriented state begins to mutilate Poppo’s face with his teeth. Eugene tears apart Poppo’s face by eating it, a few passerby’s call the authorities but the mutilation continues for a chilling 18 minutes, until police officials come and attempt to put an end to the gruesome scene but not even a bullet stops Eugene. After gunning him down, Eugene’s life is put to an end and Poppo is rushed to the hospital in critical condition with 85% of his face missing.
Here’s the problem. Why are people glorifying this incident? If you’ve been on any social media sites especially Twitter,
“Zombie Apocalypse” is trending! When in all reality this is not a joking matter. People have been making references to “teachings” in popular shows like ‘The Walking Dead” when talking about the incident that left a man in his 60’s scarred for life. People have even gone so far as to post the aftermath photo of Poppo’s face on Facebook and Instagram, a majority have no thought of remorse for this poor man’s life. Why are we so desensitized to violence?
The society we live in today is so cold and impersonal and while we yearn for a world where people actually care for one another we continue to act like animals. Life is not a show and tell project, somethings are meant to be personal and that is an image that I would’ve been absolutely fine without. The fascination shows how vapid and ignorant people can be.
Why don’t we prove to each other that we truly care about something other than Facebook updates and changing our Twitcons? Why don’t we invest our time in something much more fulfilling? Invest your energy in love of yourself. This way we can have a fighting chance at saving the world from ourselves.
*Featured Image by bgrave
