I Hope "I Hope You Die In A Fire!" Dies In A Fire


In the few days since Scans_Daily got shut down, one thing about the subsequent reaction really stuck in my craw.


It wasn't anything Peter David or the Scans_Daily moderators said, nor was it the responses from bloggers like Lisa"Ragnell" Fortuner or Johanna Carlson or even Kevin Church.


No, what upset me was a comment one poster made to Mr. David. His exact words were "I hope you die in a fire."


Not cool, in more ways than one.


Yes, I understand that this was not likely an actual death threat for many reasons, not the least of which is that the poster surely lacks the means to carry it out. And I also understand that this phrase is sadly commonplace on the internet. I get that it usually means nothing except a catharsis for the one using the phrase. Still, something about it just rubs me the wrong way.


It could be that people use it way too casually in online arguments. Valerie D'Orazio was on the receiving end of that little comment a few weeks back, in response to some disparaging remarks she made about the current Teen Titans comic. Teen Titans, for Christ's sake! Say what you will about Valerie, but nothing, and I mean nothing, that she could have possibly said would warrant that type of response.


But the real sticking point in my mind could go back to a memory from when I was about 20 years old.


One of my neighbors died in a fire.


An explosion, to be exact, caused by a leaking gas main in her house. One night the gas started leaking and by the next morning, there was little left of her or the house. She was an older lady who lived down my block. To be honest, I didn't know her all that well, since my family was relatively new to the block. But many of my then-neighbors did, and they missed her terribly.


I also remember hearing about what happened to Karen Ellis (of Planet Karen fame) a few weeks back. She lost virtually everything she owned when the apartment above hers caught fire. Fortunately, Karen herself survived physically unharmed. The occupant above her was not so lucky and died in the blaze.


Not so cathartic now, is it?