plog (what we ponder)
august 2009

Follow-Up To Instant Karma

We recently posted a video titled "Instant Karma" that is a little more disturbing than usual. It reminds us of one of those Faces-of-Death videos, which shows  people facing their final seconds.

After we posted the link, we started wondering what happened to the kid who fell out of the car. We tried an internet search and were only able to come up with this link. We are not sure how accurate the information is, but it does seem authentic and in line with the facts.

First, the story mentions the kid, Matt, hit a parked car. If you watch the video, you will indeed see that the car he hits is parked. When we first saw the video, it looked like he hit a moving car.

Second, the story mentions Matt got into an awkward position because the backseat window was child safety proof and would only roll halfway down. This forced him to get into an awkward position since he had to open the door to smack the kid on the bike. This is another fact that appears to be validated by the video, as you can see the window is only halfway down.

And finally, most important, the story says Matt didn't die. He spent a month in the hospital, lost a piece of his lip, had five teeth knocked clean out, and broke every bone in his face from his nose down. At last report, Matt is doing fine, but might  never have the perfect smile.

This video, even though it has a Faces-of- Death quality, is simply a record of someone being incredibly stupid. We hope Matt has matured and shows greater restraint in the future.

It is interesting to think about how fast Matt experienced the consequences of his actions. Just imagine how different the world would be if everyone experienced such instantaneous feedback, especially if you had been trying to hurt someone else. We've all done stupid crap in our lives, but how many of us have been so quickly rebuked. Not many. Maybe that's what is really wrong with America. We don't experience the consequences of our actions soon enough, if at all. In Matt's case, he got his quick.