Well, here's me getting pangs of guilt at one or two of these replies. Especially Oakie's which is obviously enquiring in to a personal matter which was assumed to be of importance to the person he was speaking to. That's a decent thing to do and not really what I was getting at.
I should have made it even more absurd. I recognise that it wasn't outlandish enough.
Yes, as someone has stated, this was prompted by a thread in general football where the following was posted:
"not sure what happened, but a fan died at White Hart Lane tonight. Shocking R.I.P"
followed by the start of a string of throwaway "RIP", "condolences to the family", "thoughts with the family and friends" type replies.
I appreciate that it won't be shared by everyone, but that is comical, in my view.
Firstly, we have news, passed on by a stranger on the internet, whose accuracy we have no reason to doubt but who could be, let's face it, the biggest bullshitter alive, telling us that someone has died but we don't know who or how or why.
That's it. Yet it moves people to, like Pavlov's dogs, write RIP on an internet forum. For a stranger who may or may not be dead, we have no idea of their identity and we have no idea of the circumstances or background of the situation.
If that isn't the definition of fake sincerity, then I don't know what is. And I don't buy the "it's respectful" line. It is nothing of the sort. It is mindless. It has become an automated response. It will have no impact on anyone who is genuinely attached to the situation.
(And, again, I'll separate that from what oakie was doing, which was genuinely enquiring about something that would, quite obviously, have had an impact on someone involved, if it was true)
And to make it worse we then have the "thoughts with the family" claims. Now, perhaps I am the most heartless bastard on Earth but if anyone totally unconnected to this event heard this news last night and then subsequently spent today thinking about the family and wishing them well, then I am a Chinaman.
Yet such lies are masquerading as 'respect' on such threads on a regular basis.
That sort of comment is so insincere that it is astonishing. And that is why I thought it would amuse me to see if how many similar posts might appear below something detailing that someone, somewhere may or may not be dead and how many fake, insincere nothing comments, disguised in syrupy attempts to appear respectful it might gather.
Unfortunately, I was too stupid to realise that I hadn't made it so impersonal as to render it obvious that someone on here was not really affected by a possible death. Resulting in it backfiring and attracting genuine concern by someone who, on the strength of that post, seems very decent.
But, does that mean that this is going to detract from my disdain for nonsense like "RIP, thoughts with the family" type messages by people on threads about individuals with whom they have absolutely no connection and no knowledge about and whose loved ones are never even going to view such comments?
No, it doesn't. And if you require a serious reason to explain this thread, then I will put forward that the fake respect and insincerity displayed by such comments detract hugely from people who are genuinely sincere and genuinely give thought and efforts when someone passes away. Every time someone mindlessly types something like that on the internet, before opening up Redtube again, it detracts that little bit more and makes a mockery of the same words when they are genuinely meant and meaning what they actually state.
