The Internet is Not Always Mean
posted Saturday Jun 23, 2012 by Scott Ertz
The Internet can be a wickedly mean place. For once, however, we have a story where real life was mean and the Internet came through to resolve the issue. Here's the situation: you might have seen the YouTube video entitled "Making The Bus Monitor Cry." In this video, a group of 12- and 13-year-old boys harass a 68-year-old bus monitor to the point where she cries. Obviously this was a terrible thing to do to anyone, let alone a senior citizen.
Luckily, since some people on the Internet have a heart, some of that goodwill was directed toward this woman, named Karen. In fact, one man, Max Sidorov, felt so bad about what happened that he used Indiegogo, a crowd-source funding site, to raise money to send Karen on "a vacation of a lifetime." His goal was to raise $5,000 to try and offset her $15,506 annual income and allow her to take some time away from the kids and relax, hopefully getting her into a positive mindset.
His project, however, has gone a little differently from the original plan. He has, as of the writing of this article, raised $620,863 for Karen. This is more than 100 times beyond what he wanted to raise and what he thought he could raise. This is enough money for Karen to never have to work again, and certainly not have to get onto a school bus ever again, which after this event, might be the right decision for her. Hopefully she can take the time she deserves and enjoy life.
Karen, being a caring person, does not want criminal charges pressed against the children, but she does hope they are not allowed to ride the bus for at least a year. While no decision has been made by the school that we have heard of, several of the boys have sent Karen personal messages apologizing for what they did. One child said,
I wish I had never done those things. If that had happened to someone in my family, like my mother or grandmother, I would be really mad at the people who did that to them.
Hopefully this exposure will teach these kids, and others, that respect is required when dealing with other people. If you would like to donate to the fund, you can do so right here.
