People are Idiots
Posted by Bob Barcus on April 13th, 2013
This morning, I woke up bright and early at 3:00 am. Apparently, I went to bed a little too early last night. Combined with a generous amount of wine, I slept quite well. Reaching over to my nightstand, I grabbed my Nexus 7 tablet and started filtering through my newsfeed on Facebook. That’s when I came across a post from the WNDU page talking about the recent Carnival Triumph situation. In the short article, Carnival says that it will not be reimbursing the Coast Guard $780,000 for towing the disabled ship back into port.
When I first read the article, I really didn’t form an opinion other than it sounds like an inflated price. But then I started noticing the comments from people on Facebook. That’s when I formed my opinion – people are idiots. There were comments ranging from the “cruise line is doomed” to “dry dock their a$$”.
I’m sure that unlike many of the commentators on Facebook, I’ve actually been aboard the Carnival Triumph. I spent a week aboard the ship cruising around the Caribbean visiting several ports, exploering several exotic places. My experience aboard the Triumph was quite enjoyable. The bar tab was a little surprising when I saw the bill, but I’m positive I enjoyed myself. I even discovered a new mixed drink a “Miami Vice” that has since become my ultimate favorite. I also used the slot machines quite a bit and actually came home with more money than I had taken with me. It was a successful trip for me.
The comments on the Facebook post continued to degrade, citing that Obama would be bailing them out, that you need to have your head examined if cruise with them and that next time we should only rescue the Americans – leave the rest out to sea. WTF is wrong with people?!?
When I was aboard the Triumph the actually turned the ship around in the middle of the trip between Mexico and the Cayman Islands to help an injured passenger. The passenger had apparently suffered a fractured leg and needed serious medical attention. For one person, the ship made a 180 in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and headed back into port to help this poor person. They put us back on schedule and we arrived in the Cayman Islands only slightly late. To make up time, the ship really poured about the power. They said the maximum speed was around 22 knots, but according to the ship’s own television channel on speed and location, we were moving at least 25 knots.
I hate reading the comments sometimes. In my line of work, I have to answer stupid questions and respond to ludicrous comments on Facebook all the time. You cannot have an intelligent conversation with some people – it’s just impossible. People make comments and talk about subjects that they obviously have no clue about. It irritates me like no other thing. I guess I shouldn’t have such high expectations.